Like Smoke Into the Sand
by artlessICTOAN
Summary: He'd spent his whole life on the streets, scavenging in trash for leftovers, stealing what few possessions he owned, but out here there were no dumps to sift through, no merchants to steal from, no alleys to hide in, only an endless sea of sand and scorching midday sun… However it is in this strange, hostile environment that he might find a home. AU, slice of life with some plot
1. An Upheaval

Ok, so the original plan was to write the whole thing first and then upload it, but clearly I have negative amounts of self-control so here we are. Anyways, this is a bit of a labour of love, I've had the idea floating around for a few years now and have been really excited to actually start writing it, I've mostly been doing research on various aspects of Arabic/desert-nomad culture which I'm going to be working into this story (more in the next few chapters than this one), things like pre-Islamic Arabia for the religions and culture and Bedouin tribes for the daily life and general 'living in the desert' stuff, hopefully I've done a good job but if anyone wants to call me out on inaccuracies or anything then please do! I like learning and don't claim to be an expert on any of this stuff.

I don't expect this to be that long - if things go to plan expect maybe 3-4 more chapters around this length - however the next few weeks look like they're gonna be job interviews and crying about how woefully unprepared I am for adult life, so updates might be slow, just keep shouting at me and I will get around to it once my life's stabilised a little bit. Gotta stop rambling so much, hope you enjoy!

* * *

He couldn't move, he could barely breathe, the air was so heavy with the desert's burning heat it felt as though every part of his body was being pushed down by the invisible hands of the sun itself.

Mizuki wasn't coming back.

He'd left almost a day ago now, claiming to be searching for the desert tribe who would be escorting them across the sands, but Naruto was beginning to suspect that he'd never really intended to take him away from Konoha to start a new life among people who wouldn't ignore and despise him.

The man had told him to stay put, sheltered by a small, rocky overhang at the very edge of where stone and clay turned to sand, with only a single water canteen and a bag with some dried fruit and a change of clothes in it.

In less than half a day the water was down to the stubborn few drops that clung to the inside of the flask no matter how hard he shook. The fruit was still there, but in this heat and with the water gone it only turned into a sticky mush in his parched mouth, unpleasant in texture and almost painful to swallow. He'd _tried_ to do what Mizuki had told him, tried to conserve his water for as long as he could, tried to keep to the shade even as the creeping sun had slowly stolen it away, inch by inch, until he was practically hugging the rock and could still feel his back starting to burn even through the thin fabric covering it.

But he was only nine years old, there was only so much self-control he had.

After the sun had started to sink some – the temperature didn't drop much, but it was enough for him to feel able to move again – he'd started to worry about what was taking his guardian so long, maybe he'd gotten lost, or what if he was hurt? Naruto was at heart a kind and brave soul, so he resolutely tied the spare shirt from his bag around his head for what little protection it could offer and set off into the sands.

Perhaps that wasn't the best path he could have chosen, but for a young boy lost and alone in a strange, inhospitable land there weren't many options open to him.

Now, he lay there, panting upon the desert floor. He had gotten dizzy upon reaching the top of a particularly high dune and collapsed, unable to find the energy to stand back up. Lying on his back on the burning hot sands, he was starting to wonder if this hadn't been the plan all along, to simply ditch him here and let the desert do what none of Konoha's villagers had ever seem willing to.

He had never in his life felt so _hot_ , his lips cracked painfully any time he tried to move them. So he stopped trying. There was no one to call for help anyway and he had nothing left to drink apart from his own saliva, which was thick like glue and slid painfully down his throat.

His skin was already red and peeling and sweat beaded along his forehead, he hoped that maybe if it dripped further down it might give him some respite from his thirst, however the salty drops evaporated long before they reached his lips.

Would anyone even miss him? Mizuki certainly wouldn't, most of the people he knew probably wouldn't, who would care about the orphan street rat? Perhaps the old man might be saddened by his disappearance, he'd always made time to see him at least once a week, even when he was busy doing whatever needed to be done to keep the village running. Maybe even Iruka…

His eyes started stinging, like they would when he cried, but as much as he wanted to, this time no tears fell, there was probably no water left in him. Crying wouldn't solve anything anyway.

He was going to die here wasn't he? Alone and in pain and no one would ever even know about it.

A sudden breeze blew past him, blessedly cool, though the smattering of tiny grains that felt like needles against his sunburnt skin was less welcome. Naruto slowly blinked his stuck-together eyelids open, another gust of wind rustled his blond hair, damp from sweat, and it sent a shiver down his spine.

The sun was lower in the sky now, not quite sunset but it wouldn't be long. He turned his head away from the sight. It was beautiful, he'd always loved this time of day – watching the sky turn from blue to orange to red to purple from the highest places he could climb – but right now it only aggravated the stinging in his eyes.

At least in this direction there was only the darkening blue of the sky and the sand stretching out for miles around… it almost looked like water now, turning a greyish-blue in the distance, the rippling dunes as waves, he'd never seen the ocean, but this must be what it looked like, a vast expanse where the horizon looked a world away, just empty nothingness uninterrupted by-

Wait.

With great difficulty Naruto managed to sit himself up, squinting as he scanned the distance more carefully… There! On one of the dunes a few ridges over there was a dark shape, a speck of deep red, he watched it as it slowly made its way up to the very top of the dune, then it stopped.

The sun was nearly set now, but its light fell at just the right angle to light the shape – the person he realised – far away, but still close enough for him to make out fabric fluttering in the wind. He was hit by the sudden feeling of being watched, like this figure was staring right at him.

They weren't moving anymore, just stood on the crest of the dune, as if waiting, maybe… _for me?_ the blond boy thought. He wasn't sure who the mysterious person was, if they were really waiting for him, if they were even really there, but perhaps they were and perhaps he could reach them; he didn't care who they were, he just didn't want to die alone.

Naruto rose to his feet unsteadily, took only a moment to gather his bearings, then set off.

* * *

It must've been hours, he was tired and every part of his body ached, but every time he glanced up and saw that dark shape – a little closer with every dune crossed – he found some stubborn energy deep within himself to carry on.

He was sure now that the person was waiting for him, they never let him get close, at least not close enough to see anything other than the billowing red cloak silhouetted against the midnight-blue sky, but every time it felt like he was falling behind they would stop, simply standing in place until he was sure that this time he would reach them, then they would turn back around and disappear down the other side of a sandbank.

Even so, by the time Naruto reached the top and looked to see where they'd gone they were already waiting at the top of the next dune.

It was difficult to keep going sometimes, but whenever his pace slowed and he came to a stop to catch his breath a strong gust would push him forwards, as if it were urging him on, telling him _keep going, you're almost there!_

The cold was starting to get to him though; he'd never expected the desert to be like this at night and the wind, helpful as it was, sent a chill down the boy's spine and a twinge of pain from his sunburnt skin with every gust.

Naruto didn't know how much longer he could last.

Panting he looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of the mysterious person leading him deeper into the sands. He was shocked at how close they were this time, only a few yards ahead of him now, in the dark, and with his sight blurring horribly, he couldn't make out much more than when they were separated by great distance, but he did see a flash of two hard, pale eyes, before the figure once again turned around and dipped out of sight.

This time he was not discouraged, _I'm going to reach them!_ He took a deep breath and charged up the hill as fast as his weak legs would carry him, he couldn't explain it but he felt that he was close to wherever the stranger was leading him, that if he just scaled the one last dune he would-

They weren't there.

He desperately turned left and right, even looking back the way he came, but there was no one in sight, just the endless sand and glittering stars. He wished now more than ever that he could cry, he was alone, even this stranger wanted him to die here, lost in the desert. Even if he had no tears to shed he still let out a dry sob, then another. Like a dam had been opened they kept coming, his voice was rough and barely audible, but it hardly mattered anymore.

 _I'm alone._

There was a sudden blast of wind, so powerful it scooped up a hail of sand with it. Caught completely off-guard he tumbled backwards, rolling all the way down the slope. Every time part of him hit the ground, pain shot through him and sand clawed at his skin, until finally his descent slowed and he tumbled to a halt, curled on his side.

It took him a long time to open his eyes, _everything_ hurt, but once he did what he saw made all pain seem to fade away.

Right in front of him was… a bush. He warily reached out his hand. The leaves were long, spindly things and coarse in texture, but it was undoubtedly the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Naruto sat up, his exhaustion forgotten as he stared in wonder at the sight before him, plants of all kinds, tall trees disappearing into the night sky, a wall of delicate looking reeds and spiky bushes, all packed together tightly, like they were shielding each other from the harsh desert. The leaves rustled in the, now gentle, wind and over that he could hear… _Water!_

In his rush to push through the dense scrub he earned himself more than a few scratches, but as soon as his foot suddenly plunged into the cold, beautiful, _blessed_ oasis, he no longer cared. The water enveloped him in its grip as he fell to his knees – like the occasional embrace he received from the old man – and he ducked his head into the frigid water, his discomfort overtaken by his thirst suddenly rushing back full force.

He didn't care how cold it was or whether the water was dirty, all that mattered was soothing his parched throat.

As soon as the water hit his stomach, it immediately cramped; he groaned in pain, but kept drinking anyway, at least until he started to retch.

Wiping at his mouth and stifling agonising coughs, he dragged himself away from the water's edge, his thirst had been abated, the bone-chilling cold and lingering nausea were now more important. The boy struggled back through the scrub until he found a clearing, it was tiny, an adult wouldn't fit there, but he could. Curling into a tight ball he huddled against a tree, his clothes were soaking and stealing the warmth from his body even faster than the freezing air around him, but the nook he'd found was at least sheltered from the bitter wind and the sky was starting to lighten in the distance, it'd be morning soon.

He didn't know what he'd do then. He'd spent his whole life on the streets, scavenging in trash for leftovers, stealing what few possessions he owned, but out here there were no dumps to sift through, no wealthy merchants to steal from, no small alleys to hide in… Nothing but himself and the wind and the sand.

He didn't know what he'd do when the sun rose, but he'd made it this far hadn't he? Perhaps this was fate, perhaps he was _meant_ to be here, the dark stranger who'd disappeared like smoke into the sands must have led him here for a reason, even the wind itself had encouraged him.

He didn't know what he'd do, but he wasn't about to give up yet. The cold and exhaustion finally forced him into a long, dark sleep.

* * *

Light flickered against his closed eyelids. Distorted sounds filtered into his mind. He was vaguely aware of something – a hand? – against his forehead, when he tried to open his eyes all he could see was a shadowy indistinct mass. Dizziness struck him all at once and everything was dark again.

* * *

The first thing he became aware of was the pain. Or rather, the lack of it.

His body still ached, but the pain was dull, as if far away, or smothered by a thick blanket. That was the second thing he became aware of; the heavy cloth draped over him.

As his mind slowly crawled out of the deep, murky waters it had retreated to, he started to notice other things too. There was a low murmur of conversation going on around him, though he couldn't make out any words. The light against his eyelids suggested it was day, but trying to confirm it only resulted in his vision blurring and his eyes watering heavily, he let out a groan of discomfort.

There was a pause in the voices, before they started up again, faster and louder than before, the noise only served to irritate his aching head more. One voice cut through the others, before he felt a presence settle beside him. A hand gently pulled his head up slightly and the rim of a cup was pressed against his lips, he didn't stop to question it, just eagerly drank the trickle of sickly sweet liquid offered.

After far too short a time the cup was pulled away, he tried to crane his head to follow after it, but was only met with air and a twinge in his cramped neck. The hand of the person beside him pushed him back down, then gently pried his eyes open. It took a while for his vision to clear completely, but after a minute he was able to finally take in his saviour.

She was old – at least as far as he was concerned – her dark skin was rather wrinkled around the eyes and mouth, her features were strong, homely, but friendly and her gentle smile made him feel… safe.

"Wh-" he tried to speak, his voice cracking horribly.

The woman tilted her head before calling to someone else with rapid, indecipherable words and impatient hand gestures. He couldn't move his head properly to look around, but soon another person quickly appeared in his line of sight, a man with a serious face.

"You want to know who we are?" he said, his tone low but dull.

Naruto didn't want to try speaking again, so he simply nodded his head.

"My name is Mujin, this-" he pointed to the woman who had now started dabbing a soothing cream over the sunburn on his arms, "-is Ameno, we are of the Sabaku tribe. We found you unconscious by the oasis and have spent the last two days tending your injuries."

The blond boy slowly nodded again, then cleared his throat, this was something he absolutely _had_ to say.

"Thank you." His voice was still rough, but clear enough that Mujin seemed to understand.

"It is simply the way of the desert," he droned.

The woman muttered something – in what Naruto was beginning to realise was probably the tribes own language – the dark-haired man nodded and both started to gently manoeuvre him into a sitting position, with a stack of hard pillows behind his back keeping him up.

Now that he was in a better position, he really looked around this new environment. He was in a large, square tent of some kind, intricate embroidered rugs scattered across the floor and hanging along the walls. Beyond the wide, open end opposite him he could see the expanse of the desert, the bright blue sky and almost blindingly white sand suggested it was afternoon, but somehow it was much cooler here, more like the warm summer days he remembered in Konoha than the burning, suffocating heat he'd experienced last time he was awake.

Inside the tent there were a surprising number of people milling about, all dark skinned and wearing loose, voluminous robes. In the far corner were a few tall, strong-looking individuals, swords strapped to their belts; in the opposite corner older men and woman were gathered around some kind of stove, young children nearby casting furtive glances at the young blond boy, one caught his eye and flashed him a gap-toothed grin.

Ameno pulled on Mujin's sleeve to grab his attention, speaking and jerking her head towards Naruto.

"She needs to know what happened to you and if you still feel sick." The man sighed, resigned to his fate as translator.

The boy shook his head quickly, regretting it when a short dizzy spell hit him, "'m fine."

His words were relayed, but nothing else was said, Mujin just gave him a long hard stare, eventually giving up and prompting him again. "And what happened." Naruto knew that was technically a question, but the man's bland tone certainly didn't make it sound like one.

He looked down at his hands, twisting together in his lap. He really didn't want to tell them, this was the most kindness he had been shown in weeks, possibly months. What if when they found out they would hate him too? Leave him alone again just like Mizuki…

Mizuki! He'd said he was looking for a desert tribe that had agreed to lead them through the sands, could this be that tribe? Maybe the man hadn't abandoned him, perhaps he really had gotten lost or hurt, he had to find out.

"I was with a man, Mizuki, have you seen him? He was looking for a tribe who was gonna lead us… somewhere, I don't remember. He has white hair but isn't an old man, not _really_ old anyway."

"You're the first outsider we've seen in over a month, no requests for passage have been made to us and we are the only tribe in this territory." The blunt statement brought tears to his eyes.

"Are you sure? Maybe I just went in the wrong direction, can't you ask the other tribes if they've seen him?" He was getting desperate, he knew.

"No we can't. There won't be another tribe for miles anyway."

This time he really couldn't stop himself from genuinely crying, hiccupping and trying to wipe the tears from his face in vain.

A dull thud and rapid, aggravated scolding – a tone recognisable in any language – made him lift his head. Ameno had apparently thrown a cushion at the insensitive man opposite her and was now waving him off, whilst simultaneously snapping at his quickly retreating figure.

Once he had disappeared behind a hanging curtain she finally stopped, turning back to her patient with a kind smile. She gently patted his cheek and handed him a tiny ceramic cup, it fit almost perfectly in his small hands, and gestured for him to drink.

Naruto sniffled one last time before tasting the amber liquid, it was the same sickly-sweet tea he'd been given upon first waking, but it felt soothing to his throat and calmed him somewhat, even if his eyes were still a little damp.

By now the woman had called over someone else, this time a boy who could only be a few years older than himself.

"Hello, I'm Ittetsu! Sorry, Mujin's not very nice, but he's the best at speaking Hi no Kuni's language, I'm learning though." The boy grinned widely as he introduced himself, the blond already liked him more than his previous translator. "What's your name anyway?"

"Oh, it's Naruto." He tried to match the older boy's smile but his still burned cheeks protested the movement.

"How d'ya feel? Khaalati spent hours healing you, you were half-dead when we found you."

"I'm fine."

Ittetsu didn't look convinced. "Are you sure about that?" he said, reaching out to poke a bright red patch of sunburn on his arm.

"Ow! Quit it," Naruto said, leaning as far away as possible. Maybe he didn't like him so much anymore.

The boy with short, dark hair strangely started to tear up. "No, no, no, sorry, I'm sorry, please don't cry!" A swift pillow to the head by Ameno cut his rambling off. "I'm sorry, but, we just can't do anything to help you if you don't let us know something is wrong. Are you really sure you feel fine?"

The blond stared at him warily, he supposed that made sense, but how many times had he asked for help in the past and been refused. He turned to the kindly woman beside him, she was giving him an encouraging smile, one that made him think of the mothers he'd seen comforting their fallen children in the park he used to frequent.

"I… I'm achy, kinda dizzy," he muttered, picking idly at a loose thread on his blanket.

"Makes sense, so can you tell us what happened, how long you were out there, how much you drank, stuff like that?" Ittetsu asked.

Naruto's face scrunched up while he tried to recall everything that had happened. "A day, I think, maybe a bit longer. I had a full thing of water, but that ran out by the afternoon, didn't eat anything. I found that lake at night, drank a lot of water but it made me sick, then I fell asleep by the tree, and now I'm here."

His words were relayed to the woman, she nodded and made understanding noises, then patted his head and spoke some words of her own.

"Well she thinks you're past the worst of it at least, as long as you rest and keep drinking the tea she's giving you, you should be fine," Ittetsu said, "you can stay with us till you're better, are there gonna be people looking for you, or somewhere you were supposed to be?"

He kept his face down while he forced back the stinging in his eyes, once he was sure he wasn't going to cry, he shook his head, grinning as widely as he possibly could, "Nope, I don't have anywhere to go."

The older boy frowned at him, but nodded and pushed himself back to his feet. "If you say so, I've gotta go do my chores now, but Ameno will be looking after you. You should probably get some sleep, if you need anything just shout, there's a few people here who can speak your language." He grinned one last time, then jogged out of the tent, Naruto watched him until he completely disappeared.

The dizziness was starting to get to him a little; he decided that sleeping sounded like a good idea right now, he gingerly shuffled his body into a more comfortable position – his carer helping remove the extraneous pillows – and closed his eyes, the warm feeling overwhelming him coming from more than just a thick blanket.

* * *

It was three days before he was declared fit to travel, some of the more impatient tribe members seemed annoyed by this but – as Naruto quickly learned – Ameno knew what was best and Gods help you if you disagreed.

After the first day of resting he was allowed to explore a little, he found that they had camped a short way from the oasis, letting their herd of goats graze on the abundant plant life gathered there, three large tents that each held an extended family, as well as a single small tent. When he'd asked Ittetsu about it he'd only gotten a vague answer.

"That's the tent of the Honoured Siblings, but you shouldn't go near it, they don't like people."

He hadn't seen either of these siblings, however all the other tribe members seemed to step around it with some kind of reverence, always staying quiet if they ever did need to draw close to it, so he followed their example. Besides, any curiosity he had towards it was distracted by playing with some of the young children. He'd never had a friend in Konoha – let alone one his age – so, even with the language barrier and a hovering Ameno making sure he didn't overexert himself, he found himself having more fun with them than he'd had in years.

Ittetsu, like all the older kids, had a lot of chores and responsibilities, thus couldn't play as much, but he would always sit next to the blond boy at dinner and ask him about his day, how he was feeling, if anyone had been giving him a hard time.

Surprisingly they hadn't. Sure, some of the old men and women gave him odd looks and Mujin possessed a truly astounding lack of tact, but he at least apologised when he said something upsetting. Most of the time.

And Ameno… She was special to him. He couldn't remember anything of his own parents and his only experiences with maternal affection was watching from afar as a mother was walking her child down the street, but he was sure that this must be what it felt like. The warm feeling he got whenever she patted his head, how her amused but _genuine_ smile at his clumsy attempts to speak her unfamiliar language seemed make everything shine brighter.

Everything about the last few days had been so unbelievable, like a dream he hoped he'd never wake from. Sometimes he feared he would, late at night when he was kept awake by the whispers of the adults huddled around the small stove, by the bleating of the goats roaming outside, by the winds scraping against the camel-hair tent walls. Then Ameno would settle down near him and hum a soothing lullaby, gentle hand stroking though his locks and he'd suddenly find himself unable to keep his eyes open.

He didn't want to leave.

He was sure it'd been talked about; he'd seen the adults having their serious conversations in the evening, they were subtle in their glancing at him, but he'd grown a talent for telling when people were discussing him. He was fully recovered now, there wasn't any reason for them to stick around any longer, he would just be another mouth to feed, a child who wouldn't even be able to pull his weight, not in the ways that the other children already did – even the younger ones were expected to do their chores and were much hardier against the extremes of the desert.

He was just a skinny street rat whose only skills were petty theft and pulling pranks, there was no way these people would want him to stay with them.

That was how he'd found himself here now.

It was around dawn; the sun wasn't risen yet but the sky was light. Most of the tribe were already up and preparing breakfast, rounding up the few goats that had wandered in the night, some were starting to pack away the numerous cushions and rugs from inside the tents. No one had talked to him yet in all the commotion, but he didn't really want to stick around to watch them leave him.

So he left first.

He'd packed up the few belongings he'd already had and some that he hadn't, the shabby but protective clothes he'd been given to wear, an extra water canteen and some dried fruit and meat he'd stolen from the tribe's stores. He wasn't proud of it, he knew how disappointed they'd be – especially Ameno – but he had no choice.

He didn't know where he was going to go, didn't even know where he _was_ , but at least by vanishing in the early morning when everyone was too busy to notice his absence, he'd be able to get away, maybe he'd try and go back to Konoha, or maybe he'd just wander into the desert, never to be seen again.

Suddenly shouts rose behind him, they were muted by the distance he'd put between himself and the camp but in the eerie stillness of the desert they reached his ears well enough. Well enough to pick up a few of the new words he'd been learning.

"Missing."

"Urgent."

Had they already noticed what he'd stolen from them? He quickly turned away and started walking faster, his sand-coloured cloak helped hide him but he didn't want to wait for the sun to rise, he'd be easier to spot then.

"Goat."

Naruto stopped. He stretched his hearing some more, but the words were no longer ones he could recognise. It didn't really matter anyway, he'd heard enough. One of the goats had gotten lost. Was that really what all the uproar was about?

He felt unexpectedly irritated by this, he'd run away from them, even taking some of their supplies, but they were just worried about some stupid _goat?_

Huffing he started to stomp away even faster than he was going before. Clearly he'd made the right choice in leaving if they wouldn't even notice that he'd disappeared.

It had been too good to be true, he should know better by now. People just didn't like him, didn't care about him unless he was making a nuisance of himself, just wanted to go about their lives without having to talk to him or even look at him, even those few people who had given him positive attention in the past had never gone out of their way to help him. The old man would give him some money or food when he was marched into his office by an angry villager who'd been the victim of a theft or prank, Iruka would sometimes sit with him after his day of teaching was finished, he even took him out to eat when he had some extra money, but neither of them had ever offered him a home, a real friend, a family.

Why did he think things would be different this time? He didn't know these people – not really – and they certainly didn't know him, they'd just helped a lost child on the brink of death, like they would for anyone, as Mujin had said when he'd woken on that first day, "It is simply the way of the desert."

Once he'd recovered some he'd learned more about it, the desert was a harsh place and it was easy for people unfamiliar with it to get lost and die, even those who'd grown up there would be at risk if they became separated from their tribe, so in the desert weary and lonely strangers were welcomed for as long as it took to get them back on their feet, because to die alone in the harsh sands was a terrible fate that no one deserved.

Naruto slowed his march to a crawl.

The shouts had long since faded into the distance now, he hadn't even realised how far he'd gone. The only thing that stopped him now was the new sound.

A bleat, quiet but calm, just off to his left. He turned to face it, he was in a rockier area of the desert right now – the sand beneath his feet coarse, with lots of loose pebbles – and right now he was looking at a rock formation, large and square, rising up out of the ground like the bow of a ship.

Another bleat.

Slowly he started wandering towards it, it was definitely coming from behind this rock and it sounded awfully like-

He stared at the sight before him. As he'd expected it was indeed a goat making those small noises, the three notches in its right ear identifying it as a member of the Sabaku tribe's herd. But more surprisingly...

Sitting against the rock was a person, a man, draped in bloody red robes trimmed with gold, his face and hair was hidden behind a black scarf wrapped around his head, covering all but his eyes, which were in turn obscured by auburn locks.

The man – or perhaps boy, he didn't look that old – was reaching out towards the goat, which was meh-ing contentedly as it butted its head into the outstretched hand, he didn't appear to have noticed the blond boy creeping around the rock.

Naruto definitely didn't recognise the man from the tribe, he would've remembered him for sure, maybe he was one of those Honoured Siblings he'd been told about but not seen? But then again they were apparently really old, the oldest people in the entire tribe, so probably not. From another tribe perhaps? But the Sabaku had been adamant that there were no other tribes for miles around and he couldn't have gone _that_ far.

He took another step forwards; the goat turned to look at him, but quickly returned to pestering the strange man for attention instead. There was something about him, he seemed familiar somehow…

The boy cleared his throat. The man still didn't turn.

"Uhm, hello?" Naruto said, inching closer, but he got no response.

 _I guess he doesn't understand me_ , he thought to himself, he tried to recall the word for hello he'd learned a few days ago. "Umm, m-maha… maharb- marhabaan?"

By now he was only a few feet away and the man still hadn't given any indication that he even knew he was there. The goat, apparently bored of its uncooperative playmate bounded over to him instead, head-butting his leg once it reached him. Instead of watching it, the man just let his hand fall to his lap and kept starting out into the vast, empty landscape.

Patting the goat's back gently the boy inched a little closer, maybe the man was deaf?

Just as he was about to reach him the stranger suddenly rose in a mass of billowing red, with his back turned to the boy he strode away, cloak and scarves flowing around him gracefully, which was especially weird since Naruto couldn't feel any strong wind. The familiarity of the image hit him then, all-at-once, a rush of deja vu that almost took him off his feet.

It was _him!_ The one who he had seen when he was lost in the desert, when he'd been on the verge to giving up this was who had led him to the water and, indirectly, the tribe who had saved his life.

"Hey wait!"

The figure stopped abruptly, fabric still trailing behind him slightly, but didn't turn or speak.

"I… You helped me didn't you? You lead me to that oasis," the blond said, desperately wishing for some recognition, some sign that the man had even heard him.

But none came.

After only a few seconds he was walking away again, seeming to glide over the sand, not once stumbling or sinking like Naruto always did, he looked slightly down and his eyes widened, _no footprints?_

He glanced to his own feet, lifting one enough to see that, yes, it definitely left a dip in the sand, even if there was no clearly defined impression. But by the time he'd lifted his head again to check he wasn't imagining things, the mysterious stranger was gone, no trace left behind that he'd ever been there, just a scattering of sand lifted with the wind, glittering in the late morning light.

* * *

He'd had a hard time coercing the goat but he'd made it back to the camp just as the true burning heat of the midday sun was bearing its full weight upon the desert.

The second they spotted him nearing the tents he was surrounded, there was an uproar of rapid, foreign words he couldn't grasp and rough hands grasping at him, pulling and pushing and shaking and so much commotion he couldn't do anything but wail, tears spilling from his eyes.

More confusion and panic spread through the gathered throng and he was quickly ushered into the tent and set down on a rug in the cool shade, his blurred vision made it hard to tell what was happening but he recognised Ameno's normally warm voice snapping something too fast to catch. A ceramic cup was pushed into his hands, he took a shaky sip on force of habit alone, but the – now comfortingly familiar – hot liquid seemed to calm him some, he managed to even out his breathing with only a few residual sniffles.

His vision was still a little unclear, but he recognised Mujin being shoved down in front of him, though with how many people were barking at him, he didn't seem to know who he was supposed to be translating for.

Finally, a single voice cut over the din, instantly everyone stilled and turned to the opening of the tent where the voice had come from.

It was the oldest woman Naruto had ever seen, she was short and had a heavily wrinkled face, which only served to highlight the scowl she wore. She hobbled slowly closer, hushed words spoken by those still huddled around him, tone a mixture of shock, respect and just a tinge of fear.

She spoke again, this time quieter, but there was a power to her voice; Naruto found himself listening intently, even if he couldn't understand what was being said.

After a moment of silence Ameno rose to her feet, bowing slightly, but never backing down in her stubborn gaze. She started to speak, in her kindly but firm manner, the one she used on the blond when he'd tried to push his luck with her clearly set out rules during his recovery.

The next few minutes were a strange power play that he couldn't keep up with, both of the elderly women seemed to be testing each other's resolve, eventually the other adults started speaking themselves – apparently inputting their own versions of what had happened from the few words he could catch – but the tension still lingered, even more suffocating than the sun kept away by the camel-hair walls protecting them.

After what felt like hours he'd finally had enough of people talking about him like he wasn't there.

"Hey!"

Again silence reigned. "What's going on? If you want me to leave then you should just say it and I'll go."

There were some low murmurs as those who spoke his language translated, but, before anyone could decide who would answer him, the old woman stepped forwards again, the crowd parting before her.

Naruto fell back to the ground as she came to a halt before him, leaning down ever so slightly, almost looming over him. Though her face was old and tired, her eyes were sharp and they cut straight through him.

"So you are the cause of all this fuss," she said, her harsh voice held a note of bitterness, "well I don't see why. These fools don't seem to know what they want to do with you, what have you done, boy, to ingratiate yourself to them so strongly?"

"I-I don't know what that word means and I haven't done anything!" The blond quickly realised that that wouldn't work here, back home the old man would let him get away with theft with only a slap on the wrist, he only stole food or clothes and mostly from the richer merchants, but to steal from these people who had so little already… He gulped. "I mean, I did steal some food and water and, uhm," he plucked at the cloth around his neck, "this too I guess, but it wasn't much! Just enough to last me a few days so I could go…"

Go where? Home? Back to Konoha where everyone hated him, where probably no one had even noticed he'd disappeared over two weeks ago now? No, they probably had noticed, he was so despised that he wouldn't be surprised if a festival was being held in his absence. The only other place for him to go was out into the wilderness, though he knew deep down that he'd never survive, not alone.

"So I could run away from you, before you ran away from me," he finally said, voice cracking painfully, "but then I found the goat and I never wanted to hurt you and you all sounded so worried about it, so I brought her back 'cause she was lost like I was before you found me and I… I don't know," he trailed off, unsure what point he was trying to make in his ramblings.

The elder kept her long, hard stare fixed on him; he couldn't escape the feeling that he was being judged, that whatever she was about to say would decide his entire fate, he gulped and rubbed his clammy hands against his knees.

"Well now, that's quite the feat. To find a single goat in this desert, when every other hopeless wretch in this tribe could not, to even find you way back here, in an ever-changing landscape you have no knowledge of. Even when we found you, most children would be dead from what the old woman says you've been through, you must have an incredible force protecting you-" her eyes narrowed even further, as though daring him to reveal what had kept him alive all this time "-that or sheer dumb luck," she spat.

An incredible force… did she mean that mysterious stranger? How could she even know about him though, when Naruto wasn't entirely sure he hadn't imagined the whole thing? He wasn't sure whether he should tell or not, but didn't get a chance to worry too much before she let out an exasperated huff.

"Well, with how things have been going for us, I dare say we could use some dumb luck on our side for a change. Stay, you're more use here than dying of thirst out in the desert." With that, she spun on her heels and slowly marched back out into the afternoon sun. No one dared speak other than Mujin muttering a translation for those who didn't know what she'd said and once the ancient had disappeared from view everyone seemed to let out a held breath in unison.

Ameno quickly shooed the crowd away and started her usual examination, Ittetsu staying by his side to translate her questions, which the blond answered as best he could while so bewildered by everything that had just happened.

Once his carer was happy that he wasn't injured or dehydrated – he'd at least learned some restraint from his last time alone in the desert – he finally found the words he'd subconsciously wanted to ask since he'd first woken up with these people.

"So I… I'm staying with you?" he asked, still not quite believing it.

Ittetsu grinned widely at him and threw a skinny arm over his shoulders. "Of course you are! Welcome to the family."


	2. A New Life

Look who finally got her arse in gear!.. Ehhehehe… eheh… heh…. sorry

Long story short: got a job, job caused a (minor) mental breakdown, quit job, spent a few weeks moping about how awful I am at being a Responsible Adult TM, but I'm back in business now! Next chap probably won't be up for another few weeks cause I write heck slow, but I've got a oneshot coming about Gaara adopting sand sibs 2.0 (which might evolve into a series of oneshots about the sand fam and their shenanigans when I inevitably have more ideas) and I've been shooting ideas off the lovely spellfire01 and we're working on a Naruto/Steven Universe crossover thing that I should be getting the first chapter done for soon, (she's done some incredible art you should all totally check it out!)

Onwards, to fiction!

* * *

The cry rang out clear in the still air, "We'll stop here!"

Naruto flopped down onto his back, groaning in a mixture of exhaustion and relief, pulling his scarf over his face to shield it from the midday sun.

A thump beside him indicated that someone else had joined him and only a few seconds later the scarf was plucked away, revealing his friend's obnoxious grin. "Come on, you can't be that tired, it was a pretty easy day."

The blond's nose crinkled up in annoyance. "Easy for you, you've been doing this your whole life, I've only had a few weeks practice." He groaned again to drive his point home, but Ittetsu just snorted and dropped the scarf back onto his face.

"Well easy or not we've still got a lot of work, you're helping Korobi, Sari and Yodo unpack today, I've gotta go round up the stragglers, see you at dinner!" His voice rose as he ran off to join the other herders. Naruto contemplated lying on the warm sand a while longer – just until he stopped hearing his heartbeat pounding in his head so hard – but his scarf was yanked away from him again, this time revealing the significantly less pleasant face of a scowling Yodo.

"Up," she said, jerking the scarf so hard that he was actually pulled into a sitting position, "move." With that said she marched over to where the tribe's packs were being piled, the tents already separated as the adults prepared to set them up.

He didn't really want to get up, unpacking was tedious and he was already tired, but Yodo wasn't one to tolerate slacking; even though she was the youngest and Korobi – as the oldest – was ostensibly in charge of their small team; Yodo was the one who made sure everything got done in a reasonable time.

Sucking in a deep breath he pushed himself to his feet and trundled over to the bags, Korobi waved at him as he drew closer.

"Naruto! How did you find today, was it any easier?" the teenager asked, smiling gently as he dragged one of the heavier packs onto the pile. Naruto liked him, he was nearly an adult but he was more friendly and kind than his elders – he'd even play with you younger kids sometimes – unfortunately he wasn't particularly… capable. His clumsiness and tendency to try and fix things himself, rather than asking for help, meant the other adults didn't trust him with important tasks, which was how he ended up leading a group of children in the easiest task available to them.

The younger boy grinned widely, "It was no problem, I can handle anything!"

Korobi looked unconvinced but didn't stop smiling. "I'm sure you can, you're already picking up the language very quickly, a month or two and you'll be better than me."

He felt his cheeks heat up at the praise – hopefully it would be hidden by the sunburn – he grabbed the first bag in his reach and pulled it open, but it only contained food, there was no point taking it out before the tent was up, so he went for another. This one contained the rolled-up, intricately patterned rugs that would be laid on the floor once the tents were done, he started the struggle to pull them out.

"Wrong."

Yodo's harsh, criticising tone always served to ruin his mood, she was a whole three months younger than him but she still seemed to think she was better than everyone!

"How am I wrong? The rugs need to go down as soon as the tents are up, it's not like that time I left the food on the ground for an hour," he grumbled, straining to remove them from their prison, he didn't understand how they could get _into_ the bag but not _out_.

He heard a sigh before the girl sat heavily opposite him, pulling the bag upright and taking the open end, her tiny brown hands turned the fabric over itself. Slowly, she rolled it down, the rug beneath being gradually revealed-

Oh.

He glanced back up at her, meeting her challenging, moss green eyes head-on.

"Right," she said simply, he was beginning to wonder if her short way of speaking wasn't out of arrogance or irritation, but was instead her own kind of stoicism, she did spend a lot of time with the tribe's warriors, maybe she was just imitating them.

"Uh, thanks." He still felt a little awkward around her but her sharp nod of acceptance made him think that perhaps she was warming up to him some.

She didn't stick around to chat, Korobi had accidentally poured half the tribes earthenware down the dune and was desperately chasing after it, the young girl ran to her older brother, probably to chew him out for messing up again – it was hard to believe those two were related with how different they were – leaving Naruto to finish his job, using the handy trick he'd been taught.

While he was working on the many bags that needed to be unpacked, his mind started to wander. He found himself watching the various groups taking on the various chores needed to set up camp; Sajo, one of the tribe's grumpy elders, was leading the stronger adults in putting up the frame of the three large tents the tribe carried with them, once the frames were up they would hang the wide tarps and camel-hair rugs over them.

Mujin and Sen were in charge of the flock, Ittetsu was running around collecting the goats to be counted – seven times, just to be sure – while Nonota and Komushi were laying out some feed for them, Yukata and Amagi would be milking them as soon as everyone had settled down, then the goats would be free to roam and sleep.

It was still strange to Naruto that the tribe and its herd slept in the middle of the afternoon and walked through the night, but after a few days in this new home he soon understood why, much like everything in this hostile land, it was down to the heat. Midday was the time the sun was at its most brutal, even the animals living in the sands didn't venture out then, like the people, they found what shade they could and slept until early evening, travelling overnight was the best option for them. Of course that meant they had to deal with the bitter cold rather than the scorching heat, but constant movement and layered clothes helped to keep them warm.

A sudden bump to his head broke him out of his thoughts.

He glanced down at the pewter cup that had dropped to his feet, before turning to its source; Yodo, scowling as usual and pointedly staring at the bags still piled around him, at some point in his ogling of the tribe, he had stopped working.

"Hurry up," she muttered, pulling more earthenware out of her own pack with a little more force than necessary. The blond scratched at the back of his head, a nervous habit he'd had for as long as he could remember, before turning back to his task with more determination, there were only three more.

Korobi had managed to gather up his lost wares and was being much more careful about sorting the rugs into piles – one for floor rugs, one for hanging ones – the tent frames were up by now, and adults were starting to hang the long, heavy tarps that would keep out the worst of the sun and sand, while still letting in any cool breeze that brushed over the dune. Yodo was studiously ignoring Sari's unending stream of chatter, Naruto _tried_ to pay attention to what she was saying, but he still didn't understand this new language unless people spoke very slowly, so he'd quickly lost track of what she was talking about, not that she seemed to notice.

She was friendly at least, while he couldn't always follow her words she at least spoke to him, unlike the more unwelcoming tribesmen.

Most of the Sabaku had accepted him, he got on well with all the younger children, he'd made a fast friend in Ittetsu and Yukata and Korobi were always nice to him. Unfortunately, a lot of them – particularly the older generations – seemed wary of him, like he was a spy sent to bring them down from the inside. Even the Honoured Sister, the old woman who'd secured his place in the tribe seemed to dislike his presence...

Though that could just be how she treated everyone, the Honoured Siblings rarely ventured out of their small personal tent and even when they had to leave as the tribe left for a new resting place, she was cold and never had a nice word to say, she'd snap at anyone who dared bother her while travelling, even now while the small tent the two siblings shared alone was still being put up, she and her brother were sitting a fair distance from the rest of the tribe.

Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts and returned to his task with a vengeance.

* * *

The blond boy tried to blink the itchy crust out of his eyes, as he listened to Isago drone on about milk.

Well, that wasn't entirely fair; he was also talking about cheese.

Specifically, how to turn one into the other.

Naruto wasn't thrilled with this turn of events. The day had started out well enough, he'd been woken up by Ameno as usual – earlier than he cared for but he was getting used to that by now – and he'd sat and joked around with Matsuri and Sari at breakfast, normally at this point he'd be tasked with following Ameno around as she gathered what medicinal plants could be found near their campsite.

Not that he did much to help her – he couldn't tell the difference between plants unless they were glaringly obvious and he'd spend most of the time just trying to bear the stifling heat and get used to the unstable shifting sands beneath his feet – maybe that was why his routine had been changed so drastically this morning.

Instead of going after Ameno as she hunted the dunes for plants, he was shoved down in front of Isago's worn and perpetually bored-looking face and told to watch as he churned milk.

Naruto was not pleased at all.

"-now, the key to a stronger cheese is-" Naruto tuned out once again, he'd not caught even the basics, so how to make cheese stronger was of no use to him whatsoever. The man was surprisingly passionate, given his usually stoic manner, but that didn't change the fact that what he was talking about was even less interesting to the child before him than Abiru's bragging that he'd become the tribe's greatest warrior since Sabaku no Baki – whoever that was.

This was the worst! All the other kids had better jobs they were training in, Ittetsu was going to become one of the herders who'd round up the goats and find any that had wandered far from the herd, Matsuri, Yukata and Yaoki were learning to milk and feed the goats and Sari and Amagi were really good at weaving and embroidering.

But, who he was _really_ jealous of was Abiru and Yodo, who were both being trained as warriors by the scary but honourable Satetsu. He wasn't even sure how Yodo had been chosen, she was skinny as a rail and even shorter than the blond boy was – Naruto had already been teased for it by almost every other tribesman, even the ones he was friends with – though he'd been on the receiving end of her 'playful' punches enough to confirm that, whatever they were teaching her, they were doing it right, which was why he was so desperate to join them.

He'd asked already of course, multiple times, but he'd been given a different excuse every time. At first Ameno had forbidden it on the grounds that he still wasn't fully recovered, which he had accepted without much complaint, he'd never argue with her when it came to his health, he simply couldn't face her disappointed expression.

The next time he'd asked Satetsu himself, he'd deflected the question and claimed that he wouldn't take on another student without the full approval of the elder council, who had immediately shot the idea down. One day he'd tried asking another warrior, Pakura; she had said clearly that she didn't take on any students, he'd pointed out the young lady Maki, who followed her more doggedly than the older woman's own shadow, but she'd maintained that Maki was a special case and she wouldn't be making any more exceptions.

After three weeks of this he'd been approached by elder Sajo, who had simply said, "We do not trust you yet, a foreigner should be well behaved; until you can prove you are capable of that to us, you will not be allowed to train."

Naruto didn't care for the man, he was one of the only people who still didn't like him at all, but he did at least respect him for being so honest.

It hadn't stopped him from spitting in his tea that evening.

…Thinking about it maybe that's why he was sitting here bored out of his mind as an old man nattered on about cheese now.

He would start making an effort to be more respectful in the future.

* * *

Sand whirled around him, hundreds – no, _thousands_ of grains crashing against him in a wave of fury.

Naruto wondered if he hadn't done something to anger the desert, he was sure he'd done nothing disrespectful; he'd spoken no ill words about it, he'd stepped lightly like he was taught, tried to glide over the unstable ground like his tribe… was that it? Was the sand angered that he couldn't navigate it with the same ease that those born to it could? Or, more likely, the desert just wanted him gone, wanted the interloper out of its borders, wanted him far, far away where if wouldn't have to look at his weak, patheti-

No. No! He wasn't going to give up anymore, he'd sworn it to Ameno, what would she think of him doubting himself like this? He just had to keep moving, ignore the sand crashing against him. He pulled his head-scarf down as far as he could, his eyes could barely crack open without a sudden flurry of dust bringing tears that clouded his vision even more than the haze that obscured everything, even if he could open his eyes he wouldn't be able to see more than a few feet in front of him, but he had to keep moving.

The boy stumbled again – how could the wind be so powerful it could knock him over so easily? – he pushed himself to his feet again with a grunt but got less than four steps before another gust pushed him down, harder this time, his head rang as it hit the ground. Sand crept under his scarf, under his robe, huddled down like this the onslaught was lessened, slightly, but he couldn't stop, he had to keep moving, get back to the tribe. Pushing himself up was a struggle, but as the wind died for a second he took his chance and stumbled to his feet, he tried running but the shifting sands beneath him sucked at his heels like thick mud, at the same time the wind pulled at him, fabric around his skinny frame billowing out like a sail, whipping against him, pulling him wherever the wind willed...

He was nothing more than a puppet, struggling against those merciless strings that wanted him to dance for the amusement of the desert.

But he had to get back, even being played with by the fiercest wind he'd ever known, he had to focus on what was important, he just had to keep moving, he just had to breathe, to keep his face covered, to keep his footing and _just keep moving!_

One foot in front of the other, keep moving, one foot in front of the other. He thought of Ameno, she worried at the best of times, him being caught in a sandstorm would probably be enough to make her faint; when she saw him she'd wail and rush to hug him, pat him down and check for injuries like she always did, then – only once she was sure he wasn't hurt – she would scold him. She wouldn't shout, she didn't have to, she would just explain in the simplest and most honest words she could what kind of danger he'd put himself in and then give him that look, the one that said 'I care about you too much to lose you', the one that made him want to smile and cry and beg for forgiveness all at once.

Just keep moving, for her, if nothing else.

It had all started so suddenly, he'd only been a few hundred yards away from the camp when a great surge of sand had charged over a dune and he'd been completely knocked off his feet, in under a minute the visibility had dropped so much he couldn't see three feet in front of him.

Now, the wind seemed to die down a little, enough for him to steady himself and brave opening his eyes at least. The sand was still brushing past him, still cloaking everything in a thick veil, he could just about make out some of the thorny scrub bushes that littered this part of the desert, but they were hardly distinctive landmarks, he hadn't been that far from camp when the storm kicked off though and he'd been walking for what felt like hours, they must be nearby.

He briefly considered shouting, the roaring gale made it difficult to hear anything, but if they were as close as he suspected then they should hear him, right?

Naruto sucked in a deep breath – one that contained far too much sand for his lungs liking, his bellow for help came out as little more than a choked gasp, followed by a fit of hacking coughs that made his eyes water.

So, he wouldn't be getting help that way.

He once again scanned the area, maybe he'd be able to spot some sign of his tribe... but he'd gotten turned around ejecting the sand from his throat, he was no longer sure if he'd already passed that short, wide-reaching bush or if it had been the smaller, barer one.

Every second that he wasted panicking was another second he had to endure being buffeted by the swirling sand, he couldn't afford to stay still and work out where he was meant to be going, he had to find his tribe, find shelter, find Ame-

What was that? He focused as best he could on the place where he swore he'd just seen...

Yes, there it was again! A dark shape just visible through the sand, a tall, moving shape, it had to be a person. With some struggle, Naruto trudged as fast as he could after them.

Pulling his scarf to cover his mouth he tried shouting again, "Hey! Who's there, is that you Mujin? Pakura? Hello!" The form gave no sign that it had heard him, but it was moving slowly, if he could just push his legs a little faster he'd-

"You..." he whispered to himself, a sudden lull in the storm had cleared the sand some, enough for him to see who it was he was chasing after.

A figure draped in deep red, stepping lightly over the sand, undisturbed by the tempest raging around them. The person who'd once saved his life and once ignored his very existence, who was walking away _again_ , before he could even ask who he was. The boy felt a surge of determination rise through his body, he had to catch up with him, had to talk to this person, find out how he kept running into them, if he perhaps knew where the Sabaku camp was.

"Hey!" No response. "Heeey!" Nothing. Naruto grit his teeth, that was it, he'd had enough of being ignored by this guy, he wasn't going to let him disappear again until he'd _at least_ gotten a chance to thank him.

He steeled his legs and pushed through the sand as hard they would let him, he didn't turn his gaze away from the stranger in front of him, he wasn't going to lose him this time!

The storm seemed to grow around him, wind pushing against his chest, sand scoured every bit of his uncovered skin, the ground beneath his feet started to shift, tilt. _We're going down a dune_ , he realised and had a flash of inspiration, waiting until just the right moment – when the gale weakened to a gust – he jumped with a deep grunt. It was strange how he could still feel the wind pulling at him in the air, he worried for a second that it might be strong enough to push him completely off course; but, after what felt like a lifetime, he made painful impact with the man.

The events that followed were even more jarring than when the sandstorm had first come upon him. He had apparently caught the man completely off-guard, once he landed on his back – it had felt like falling into a rock! – their combined weight had caused them to tumble head over foot down the steep hill, the fall was painful and each impact brought more sand sliding down with them. His breath was knocked out of him immediately, but he held the man tight, tiny arms wrapped around his neck, even as their descent slowed to a halt he refused to let go.

Everything was still, Naruto knew the wind was howling around them but he couldn't feel it anymore, could barely hear it over the pounding in his chest, pounding in his head, his own ragged, heavy breathing.

The man lying face down under him wasn't making a sound; carefully, wary of his aching body – and surely the strangers too – the boy untangled himself from the stranger. _Oh Gods, he's not_... He reached out to shake his shoulder lightly, when a low sound emerged from the mass of red, somewhere between a groan and a growl. The young boy felt a shiver of fear trickle down his spine, but he tightened his grip on the surprisingly rough cloth in his hands; he wasn't going to let him go without getting some answers.

Slowly, the man shifted, hands digging into the sand to push himself up, he was still making that sound, though it was becoming more and more growl-like with every passing second. He stopped moving once he was onto his hands and knees, head staring firmly at the ground and low rumbling not getting any quieter, Naruto shook in place, he wasn't quite sure what he'd expected to happen once he finally got the man's attention, but he wondered if he hadn't just made a huge mistake.

"I-I... Sorry," he said, so quietly that he couldn't hear himself over the wind, which had intensified over just a few seconds, it was whirling around them, but only the occasional gust and lash of sand reached them, like they were sat in the eye of a twister.

His hand was gripping the blood-red fabric so hard his knuckles had turned white, but he couldn't find any will to let go, even as the growl became louder and the storm raged harder. But nothing was happening, if the stranger was that angry at him why hadn't he done something already? And why should he be angry anyway, sure he'd kind of attacked him unexpectedly, but the man had just been ignoring him and he'd saved his life once before, why would he want to kill him now just because he'd jumped on him and made them fall down a dune? He couldn't be _that_ hurt, the ground here was mostly sand and it wasn't like Naruto was heavy, Ameno was always saying he was too skinny!

The growling hadn't stopped, but now the blond boy was too angry now to be intimidated, he was going to find out who this was and get him to help him home if it killed him.

"Hey, I'm sorry for scaring you, but I had to talk to you and you couldn't hear me! Or, you weren't listening, you can hear me, can't you?" There was no reply other than the snarl deepening, which only irritated Naruto more. "I know you can hear me! If you've got a problem, why don't you just _say_ it like a normal person," he said and the second he reached the end of his sentence he finally, finally got a reaction.

The man's head snapped up, the movement was so abrupt that he almost didn't see it, but it gave him his first real glimpse of his face. He'd never expected to see such a shade of green in this land of gold and brown and red, but this man's eyes were the same pale blue-green as the clear springs he used to explore back in Konoha, but where those streams had always made him feel content and relaxed, these eyes were... cold. They were the kind of eyes that he would imagine when people spoke of 'piercing' eyes, the kind that could root you to the spot, make you fear for your very existence, but there was something else underneath that, something that most wouldn't notice behind the blank, pupil-less glare.

Loneliness. Sadness. Pain.

The same eyes he'd see reflected back at him in those clear natural springs.

Naruto gulped. "I- you helped me before didn't you? When I was lost you lead me to that oasis, you saved my life, I just, I needed to thank you."

There was a long stretch where nothing happened, the man was still growling and the storm was still raging, but the boy and man just held utterly still, staring hard at each other, neither one blinking, not even breathing.

The blond finally couldn't take it anymore and had to take a deep breath, in the second his eyes closed he hear the rustling of cloth and the rough fabric still held in his grip pulled away, he tightened his fist. "Wait! You, do you know where my tribe is? I got lost in the sandstorm and I can't see anything out there, please, can you help me find them again?"

Those eerie green eyes turned on him sharply, the man was no longer making any noise though, so Naruto took it as a good sign.

At least until he turned away. He pulled at the hem of the mysterious strangers robes, terrified that he was going to be abandoned again. "Are- are you showing me where they are? Please don't leave me alone here, please!" he squeaked out, tears were starting to burn his dried-out eyes.

A painful sounding growl erupted from the man and he pulled at his robes, hard enough to jerk the small boy to his feet, then he started walking again. It was only when he paused a few steps away and turned his head just slightly that the blond realised what was happening. Naruto scrambled to catch up, shifting his grip from the hem of the blood-coloured robes to the sleeve and adjusting his scarf to cover his face better, he followed the stranger into the chaos once again.

The sand and wind were much harsher outside of the strange area of calm, but being beside someone seemed to make the whole ordeal much easier to bare, the man wasn't slowing his pace much, but he shielded him from the winds, if only a little. The blond glanced up at his companion's face again, it was once again covered completely, black scarf hiked above his nose and dark red hair hiding his eyes. He didn't seem at all bothered by the storm, gliding effortlessly over the unsteady ground and pushing through the wind and sand like they were no more hindrance than a thin curtain.

He wasn't sure how long they walked for, he wasn't even sure how long the storm had been going on for – it felt like hours, but he imagined that being lost and in pain in this veiled landscape with no landmarks had something to do with that – all he could remember about where the tribe had camped was that it was on top of the third dune from the small, rocky mountain, with the lone spindly tree at the base. Would that still be standing? It was hard to imagine anything surviving the onslaught of so much sand.

Though it was definitely starting to calm, he could see a few yards ahead of them now, could see the shadow of a rock not far ahead. His guide was definitely heading in that direction, even gaining a little speed, the boy stumbled to keep up.

"Are we close?" Naruto asked, the rock was now clearly visible and the man had stopped directly in front of it, he turned from the redhead to the rock and back, half expecting his tribe to materialise from the other side, but it wasn't big enough to hide more than a single child and there was nothing to be seen through the flying sand. He was suddenly tugged forwards, finally letting go of the man's sleeve in surprise, _is he trying to escape again?_

He turned sharply, desperate not to lose sight of his saviour, but surprisingly he was standing exactly where he had been before. The blond looked up into his eyes, they were narrowed and the man was doing that strange deep growl again. "H-hey, what's going on?" he stammered, he wanted to believe that this was a good person, that he wasn't going to cause him any harm; but he'd been burned before and these weren't favourable signs being given to him. His gaze wanted so badly to waver and escape from those cold, sharp eyes, but he'd come this far, backing down now wouldn't do him any good.

The boy puffed out his skinny chest as best he could and glared as hard as he dared at the strange, dangerous-feeling man. "Well, are you helping me find my tribe or not?"

Another deep rumbling answered him, but this time it sounded different, almost like...

"Sss-stay," the man ground out, "they... will, come." His voice was strange, low and rough, like he hadn't spoken in months. Or years. It almost sounded like it belonged to the desert itself, dry and coarse, with an underlying power, hidden beneath a quiet, mysterious surface.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, though he couldn't find any words. But it wouldn't have mattered anyway, with his part said, the man spun around, the boy reaching out in a vain attempt to stop him, when all of a sudden a wave of sand rose up between them, stronger than any that had come before. It only lasted a few seconds before the sand dropped back down, but that was all the stranger needed to vanish into the last dregs of the storm.

* * *

Less than ten minutes later – he'd counted, there wasn't much else for him to do, huddled behind the rock for shelter – the storm had finally, _finally_ stopped. He gingerly pushed himself to his feet and looked around.

There wasn't anything he recognised, but then there was never much to distinguish one part of the desert from another. He wondered if he should climb the dune, he'd get a better vantage point from higher up, but the stranger had told him to wait...

He didn't mull over it for long before deciding to take action, his aching legs complained at every step but halfway through trudging up the steep slope he heard something.

"Naruto!"

His turn was so swift that he completely lost his footing on the loose sand and ended up sliding almost to the bottom, but even that wasn't enough to keep him down for long; the second the world had stopped spinning he was back up, turning his head wildly until-

"Shira!" He didn't waste a second, running over to the most welcome sight he'd seen since the first time he'd set sight on that oasis all those months ago.

The towering man stumbled as the boy charged into his stomach, but he didn't fall, only laughed and wrapped a thick arm around his shoulder. "Careful there, are you alright? We've been worried sick," he said, crouching down to look the small child in the eyes.

Naruto sniffed, but couldn't keep the smile off his face. "Yeah, I'm fine now!" He scrubbed at his still-raw eyes and leant in to hug the man, unlike the tribe's other warriors he was always friendly and helped to look after the children when he wasn't on watch. The arms that wrapped around him weren't as comfy as Ameno's, but after being blasted by sand for two hours he would take anything.

"Well, let's get back to the others, I'm sure Ameno will want to check that herself," Shira chuckled, pulling away and standing back straight.

The blond grinned widely. "Yeah, let's go home!"

* * *

Naruto glanced around uncertainly, everyone was coming to a slow halt, but they'd only been moving for a few hours, surely they weren't ready to break this early?

He pulled gingerly on Ameno's robe and whispered as quietly as he could, "What's going on, why is everyone stopping?"

Not quietly enough, judging by the obnoxious scoff thrown at him by Abiru. "Of course _you_ wouldn't know, outsider," the older boy said. Beside him Amagi snorted, the blond wondered if that crony ever actually listened to what his friend said or if he just laughed out of habit. He wouldn't be surprised.

His guardian didn't say a word, but stared hard at the duo until they nervously walked ahead to join the others. Ameno didn't need to shout, she didn't even need to glare, she just had to use put on her 'disapproving' face until whoever had upset her cracked and either ran for the hills or begged for forgiveness. The old woman sighed as they scurried away, moving to help various tribesmen remove their packs, no one was pulling out the tents though, so it looked like they wouldn't be staying long.

He scanned the area, trying to see what could have caused the unexpected halt in their journey. When nothing in the dark, star-lit landscape jumped out at him, he looked up at Ameno again, tugging on her long sleeves to get her attention.

"Oh, I'm sorry child, why don't we sit down and I will explain it to you," she said, her warm smile wiping over her previous frown.

Naruto nodded and helped her get the heavy bag off her back and held her hands steady as she sat on top of it, usually they would settle straight on the ground, but this part of the desert was more rock than sand and littered with tiny jagged stones that hurt to sit on – or step on, as he had found out already.

They were a little way from the rest of the tribe, though not so far as to not hear the quiet conversation and see them gathering around the large rock formation jutting out of the ground. It didn't look particularly interesting, is was just a big and fairly even cylinder, probably worn down over centuries by wind and sand like every other rock in this place. Though now that he was paying closer attention he did notice a cloth wrapped around it, and more scraps of material hidden amongst the scrub's branches and cacti's thorns.

Ameno waited until he had gotten comfortable before speaking, in the same animated tone she used when telling bedtime stories.

"We are stopping out of respect, because this is an important place to all the peoples who travel this desert, this is a Baytu-Ilah, the house of a deity. Within this stone lives a great and powerful jinni, one that controls the winds," she said, her hands fanning his face to drive in her point.

The boy felt his own eyes lighting up with glee at his carer's initiation of a game, he let out an exaggerated screech and fell backwards off his pack, regretting it the second he felt a sharp point dig into his spine, though not enough to stop his laughter. It took him a few seconds to catch his breath, still lying on the uncomfortable ground he tilted his head back to study the rock.

"A Bata-Ilah? And a... _jinni_ lives in there? How does it get in, is there a door?"

He scrambled back into his seat as Ameno chuckled and brushed some sand off his hair. "No child, _Baytu_ -Ilah, and a jinni needs no doors, they do not have a physical form like us."

"Oh, how do you know anything lives there though? It's just a rock, not even an interesting-looking rock," Naruto asked.

"There is little place for grand temples and extravagant palaces in the desert, my boy! We live a life of survival and necessity, as do all who dwell here, even those who do not have the same needs as we do cannot afford to be choosy. The places that become Baytu-Ilah are the places that can wear the harsh weather, the passage of time, places that embody the strength it takes to live here. This stone has been standing for many, many generations and it has not succumbed to the desert's best attempts to topple it, that is what makes it a home worthy of spirits, even Gods."

The blond listened, utterly captivated, imagining what the spirit that lived so nearby had been though, what powers it had. "So who lives in there then? What do they look like, do they control all the winds, all the time? Or just some of the winds, some of the time? Will they come out, is that what we're doing here?" The words were tumbling from his mouth so fast he slipped back into his first language of out habit.

Ameno smiled and pulled his flailing hands together and into her lap. "One question at a time, child. The spirit that lives here is the Waswas, very few have ever seen this spirit, or any jinni, we only have the tales of our ancestors to look to for descriptions of such beings. Or..."

She trailed off uncertainly, her eyes darting away for a second before she shook her head and returned her gaze to her adopted son. "Well, that doesn't matter, our tales tell us that this spirit is a winged serpent, who flies on the south winds. You may have even heard them before, whispering on the breeze, a language far too great and primal for any mere mortal to grasp, but the whispering remains, beautiful and terrifying.

"But what really matters, is that we are here to pay tribute to the Waswas, to give offerings and prayer for safe passage through this spirit's domain. Look over there, what do you see?" She nodded her head towards the rock, Naruto turned around to follow her gaze.

"Nae, Sen and Abiru, they're... changing some of the cloths around the stone. Everyone else is leaving stuff around it and praying, do spirits like cloths?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not, but we adorn them nonetheless, to show our thanks and also to alert other tribes to the jinni's presence. We also leave behind small sacrifices – dates, barley, what meat and milk we can spare – to calm the Waswas so that it does not torment us with storms or ill winds," she said, her tone growing more solemn.

Naruto took a moment to take in all this new information, he'd never heard much of spirits or gods back in Konoha. Not that they didn't believe in them – he'd spent many cold winter nights hidden away in dark corners of the village temple – but they weren't spoken about much in the busy markets he frequented. Perhaps it was just the isolated nature of this land that made the worship of spirits and jinn a bigger, more prevalent, part of their life. He pondered what he'd been told so far.

A flash of red and black flared at the back of his mind. "So… are there others?"

"Oh yes, my child. There are many, many jinn who make their home's in this desert, other immortal beings too – spirits, creatures, demons and gods – but they are fewer and even more reclusive than the jinn," the old woman said, nodding sagely.

"And if I met one, would I be able to tell they're not human?"

His carer gave him a long look, eyes seeming to search his for answers, but Naruto kept his gaze steady and just prayed that she wouldn't be able to read what he was thinking through his face.

"Well, I suppose that would depend on the spirit. Some, like the Waswas, are so unearthly that you could not mistake them for anything else, others take the forms of humans, though they are not made of red clay, like we are; they are smoke, fire, wind and light. As I have said, no one I have known has ever seen such a being with their own eyes, or if they have they've never spoken it to anyone in the tribe. But, I would not worry child, spirits and jinn are reclusive, they do not like to show themselves, not unless to smite those who have caused them insult," here, her tone shifted from serious to jovial, "as long as you behave – like I keep telling you to – then you will likely never encounter one yourself."

The boy giggled nervously, rubbing at the back of his neck, until he heard the calls from behind him. Turning his head, he saw everyone starting to haul their packs back onto their shoulders and urge the herd to start moving again.

"Come on my boy, help an old woman stand up," Ameno joked, holding her hands out expectantly.

Naruto grinned and pulled her to her feet, "All this spirit and jinn stuff is really fun, I wanna hear more about them!"

His surrogate mother's gentle laugh echoed through the plain, "Of course my child, now, what have you heard of Ghuls?"


	3. Friends and Family

Ok, so, I just have to thank you so so much for all the faves/follows/kudos and the lovely comments! Honestly I'm left grinning for days after I see them and it's just so nice to know people are actually enjoying this story, I go back and reread them any time I'm struggling with writing cause they give me a huge burst of motivation to get the next chap out! You're all such sweet dears omggg (though do remember that critique is always appreciated!)

What I've learned writing this… Poetry is hell! Seriously, the poem that comes up this chap took me well over five hours to write and when you get there you will see _exactly_ why that's so embarrassing. I did consider just using one of the more authentic poems I found researching, but that kinda steps on copyright – even with proper credit – which I'd prefer not to do that if at all possible (I do realise the irony of saying that when I'm literally using and abusing someone else's characters, but I'm just gonna keep quietly ignoring that fact) and besides, it's nice to try and write something that's specifically for this world and story.

I had originally wanted to write it in one of the metres used in traditional Arabic poetry, but it was hard enough trying to have just the 9,9,9,7 syllable count, messing around with short and long syllables, especially when those metres were designed for a completely different language… yeah, that was too much for my poor poetically inept brain to handle.

Also, helpful note: jinn is plural, jinni is singular.

* * *

"No, you click from the _back_ of your mouth, like this," Ittetsu made the 'clack' noise again, the goats around him pressed in closer.

Naruto scowled, "That's what I did," he said, clicking his tongue again.

The goats scattered.

The younger boy groaned and slumped onto the hard ground. "Uuugh, this is impossible, how many ways can there be to click?" he asked, only half wanting an answer, they'd been at this all morning – his stint as a cheesemaker had ended rather abruptly when he'd over-salted the milk so much that they'd actually had to use it to salt the next batch of cheese – but so far, he'd made little progress.

All of the clicks his instructor had been trying to teach him sounded the same to him and all of his attempts to replicate them only managed to produce the noise that told the goats to scatter.

"Hey, you can't just give up, being a goatherd is all about being a leader, you don't have to know everything there is to know about goats to be a good herdsman, you just have to _act_ like you do and they'll follow."

"Then why do I need to learn all this clicking stuff, can't I just poke them with the stick?" the blond asked, reluctantly standing back up.

"Because, it'll make your job easier and using the stick makes them nervous, which makes them even harder to lead," Ittetsu said, "now let's try it again! You need to push your whole tongue to the roof of your mouth and then quickly pull the back part away, it's easier if you try to keep it to one side of your mouth." He clicked again, some of the nearby goats bounded over to them, but the others seemed to realise – after the fiftieth time the sound had been made today – that they weren't being called for any real reason and wandered away to graze on the scrub dotting the plain.

Naruto sighed, but made an effort to follow his friend's instructions.

'Clack'

Three of the goats crowded around Ittetsu bounded over to the younger boy excitedly, none of the others did more than look at him curiously, but none of them ran away either.

"I did it!" Naruto yelled, jumping and punching the air in triumph.

"You did it! See it's not so hard, once you've practised it it'll be like second nature," the brunet said, grinning widely and throwing an arm over the skinny blond's shoulder. "Now, how about we try it again?"

* * *

The setting sun caused the sand outside to glitter like water, the beautiful sight only disturbed by islands of shrubbery and the goats settling down to nap.

But inside, everything was chaos; conversation was loud and unending, the air was thick with steam and the heady smells of fresh bread and goat soup, Naruto was being crushed on both sides by the entire tribe – almost thirty people – all crowded together for their evening meal, luckily a cool wind blew through the tent, relieving them of the last dregs of the afternoon heat and the heat from the mass of bodies pressed together.

The boy couldn't be happier. He reached for the large pan of soup being passed around, grunting as he tried to lift it.

"Oh, here, let me help," Nae said, leaning past him to grab the heavy metal herself, the woman lifted it easily and helped him pour a good sized serving into his pewter bowl, thin liquid splashing onto his hands whenever a lump of meat or vegetable dropped into it. "There you are," she finished, pouring herself a bowl, before passing the pan along to her eldest son, Korobi.

"Thanks," Naruto said, sucking the drops of warm broth off his fingers as he grabbed a fatir from the tray being handed to him by Matsuri, the thin, dense, flatbread was still warm from the coals.

He passed the tray along and settled his fatir in his lap, tearing off a piece to dip in his broth; the taste of it was perhaps a little bland – the tribe couldn't get their hands on much in the way of ingredients or seasoning – but it was hot, comforting and filling, which was the only thing that really mattered out in the dunes.

Food wasn't abundant, their herd was small, so they could only afford to kill and cook its weakest members every so often, the milk and cheese they got from them helped to fill their stomachs, but it was no substitute for meat. Hunting wasn't a particularly worthwhile option, animals with enough meat to feed them were few and far between and the struggle required to catch them wouldn't be worth the time and effort, not unless they stumbled across a weakened ibex or the occasional hare.

Apparently – over a century ago, back when the tribe was much bigger – they had used falcons to hunt for game, but those had been lost to other tribes, though both trade and attack, along with the Sabaku's huge herd of camels and many of their riches.

Naruto wasn't sure if that was true, or just the elders embellishing on their past, trying to make the tribe's history more impressive than it actually was.

Either way, here and now, they just had to make do with what little they had.

And that was more than enough for him.

"So, how's my favourite goatherd been treating you? I hope the training isn't too bad," Nae said, nudging the blond gently.

He grinned widely, "Well, he's an _alright_ teacher, I guess."

"Hey!" Ittetsu called from where he was sitting a few spots down from them, "I'm not that bad am I? I was really trying to be patient and not go too fast and-" he looked like he was about to burst into tears – not an unusual occurrence for the older boy.

Across from them Shira broke into laughter, "He was only joking, no need to get so worked up."

Nae playfully threw a date at her husband, before leaning over and stretching her arm across her many children's laps to pat at the boy's knee, "Don't you worry Ittetsu, I know you're doing a wonderful job, we just like to tease."

His brown cheeks turned red, but he was grinning. He quickly turned back to the conversation he was having with his father and siblings before he'd been distracted. Naruto chuckled and did the same, chewing on a tender morsel of goat as he turned to the young girl next to him.

"Where were you today, Matsuri?" he asked, "I didn't see you at all when I was training."

She lowered the bowl she was sipping from and wiped at her mouth sheepishly. "Oh! Well, since there's lots of plants here we didn't need everyone to go looking for feed, so me and Yukata stayed at camp to help Amagi with his embroidery, ah-" she scurried away to the back of the tent for a moment, but quickly returned with a small square of cloth in her hands "-see? I'm not very good at it, so they only gave me a little bit to do, but I'm getting better."

Naruto carefully studied the scrap of cloth she'd handed to him; the needlework was definitely rough, nowhere near the beautiful patterns that adorned the heavy rugs they sat on, or the fine details that were embroidered into the clothes they wore, but Matsuri looked so proud of it that he couldn't bring himself to say anything bad. Besides, he certainly couldn't do any better.

"It looks great! I really like the little flowery bits," he said, pointing to the messy but still recognisable geometric shapes woven in bold red against black.

The younger girl blushed and carefully took the material back from him, "Thank you."

She stood back up to return her work to its place, Naruto took the opportunity to look around for another conversation to join.

Next to him, Nae was chastising her more rambunctious children – which meant she was just chastising Abiru. Across from them Shira and Satetsu were muttering quietly to each other, their expressions looked very serious, Naruto desperately wanted to join in, but they never talked about secret warrior business with him, so he just sighed and move his gaze along; one day he'd get to hear those conversations.

Down from them Komushi was playing with his baby girl, Yome. The young man was making funny noises as he waved a spoon back and forth in front of her mouth, the child trying to follow with her, extraordinarily huge, eyes. His wife, Sana, glanced at them disapprovingly and scoffed, before picking at her meal and glaring down her nose at Yukata.

He couldn't understand why she disliked the girl so much, Yukata was the nicest person he'd ever met, a little naïve and dim perhaps – she never seemed to notice the older woman always glaring at her – but she was kind and always had a smile for everyone. Sana, on the other hand, never had anything nice to say about anyone. Ameno had told the boy that she had only married into the tribe a year or two before he himself showed up, maybe she just felt uncomfortable around new people, but she didn't even seem to like her husband and only interacted with her own child when she was crying and no one else was around to see to her needs.

"Um, Naruto? You have a very serious look on your face…"

He turned to face the meek voice that had broken him out of his thoughts, Matsuri looked up at him uncertainly.

"Oh, I was just wondering why Sana doesn't like Yukata I guess," he explained, voice low so as not to attract the attention of those he was talking about. "She's always so mean, has she always been like this?"

Matsuri glanced at the young woman before answering, "I think so, though she hasn't been with us that long and she doesn't like children, she doesn't speak to me much."

"So, she just doesn't like _anyone_ then," Naruto said, tearing off a piece of his bread.

"Not really, but I'm sure she's just still upset."

The boy gave her a confused look, "Upset about what? Must've been pretty bad for her to hold a grudge this long."

"Well, you know how she used to belong to a different tribe?" Naruto nodded along eagerly, "I don't think she joined ours because she wanted to, her family probably made her marry Komushi and come to live with us."

"Huh," Naruto looked at the woman again, it could certainly explain why she was always so cold to everyone here… "But, why did she have to leave her family?"

The girl shrugged and gave him an uncertain smile, "I dunno, but it's probably best not to ask her."

He sighed but decided to let the subject go, he didn't really understand the whole marriage thing yet anyway. He returned to sipping at the last of his broth.

* * *

Naruto grumbled and kicked at the sand as he trudged along. Herding goats had been fun for a few weeks, but he was getting sick of having to wander around the empty desert looking for them when one wandered off by itself.

Normally one of the older goatherds would accompany him in this task, but the morning had been hectic, what with a young doe going into labour prematurely and needing to be tended to so they didn't lose her – their herd was too small to take the loss of one of their twelve breeding females – luckily, the most likely place for the missing goats to have wandered off to on this occasion was the nearby oasis, it was a fairly short walk and there were enough landmarks along the way that he wouldn't get lost.

But it was still boring, more so when there was no one to chat with, even _Mujin_ , who was both generally uninterested in conversation and seemingly incapable of being pestered into entertaining reactions, would be better than no one.

He let out a dramatic sigh – not that anyone was around to hear it – and hurried his pace, when he got back maybe he could see the new babies!

That thought kept him motivated as the oasis finally became close enough that he could smell the sweet flowers and plants that grew around its edge.

And hear the playful bleating of the runaways.

The boy marched over to where the sound was coming from, but as he came to the clearing they were bouncing around in he saw something vastly more interesting. Sitting against a tree was a figure draped in black and red.

Naruto halted abruptly; the man was apparently just watching the goats play, the scarf that usually covered his face was down around his neck, allowing the boy to see his blank expression. He wasn't sure what he should do now, there was no way this was a coincidence, he'd seen this man too many times now and he wanted some answers.

At least he looked fairly calm right now.

"Hello," he said cheerfully, moving to sit opposite him in the clearing – but not too close, just in case. "Uhm, have you been looking after the goats? They seem to like you, like that other time I saw you, a couple months back."

The mysterious man didn't give any indication that he'd heard, he was still staring blankly into space. It was irritating, but the blond was determined to get through to him this time.

"My name's Naruto, by the way, of the Sabaku tribe."

That did get the man to move, well his eyes did at least – and only his eyes, his head stayed perfectly still, it was a little creepy – slowly they turned their focus from the goats onto the boy instead. His expression didn't change at all though and he didn't make a sound.

Naruto frowned, "You could at least say something you know, just give me a name or anything. I know you can talk!" he whined. This was really starting to get to him, what did this guy even _want_? He'd been following him for months now, he'd saved his life twice now. This man… well, he probably wasn't really a man.

He'd suspected for a while now that this was a spirit of some kind, maybe even a jinni, the stranger had a habit of disappearing without a trace and his actions in general were odd. He couldn't say what spirit he might be though, the tribe had told him some of their stories; the serpentine Waswas who glided on the wind, Hatif, the benevolent jinn that were never seen, but whispered warnings to those in trouble, demon ghul that would eat corpses and naughty children who wandered too far from their tents – Ameno had been particularly keen on delivering that story – the dangerous Marid jinn who dwelled in pools, lakes, rivers and oceans, the most proud of the many species of jinn and ones that must be pacified before daring to touch the water they inhabited.

This man didn't match any spirit's description that he'd heard, but he was simply too… _other_ to be human.

The boy wasn't sure whether he should confront him with it, though. Everyone in the tribe had warned him that most spirits were dangerous – they were worshipped and respected of course, but they could turn on you at any second and were only kept peaceful through offerings and sacrifice – no one in the Sabaku tribe had encountered a spirit themselves, but he'd been told that if he ever came face-to-face with one he should always quickly run away and to not offend them in any way if he couldn't.

But, he'd already literally tackled this one down a dune, so asking him to be honest about this couldn't be much worse an offense, right?

He cleared his throat, "You, you're not a human, are you? Are you a jinni?" he asked, praying that he wouldn't be struck down for his boldness.

Across from him, the man did nothing, only turned his eyes back to the frolicking goats.

Naruto sighed, clearly he wasn't going to be getting anything from him, he pushed himself to his feet and clicked to garner his charges' attention, they meeh-ed discontentedly but started charging away from the oasis. He stopped just as he was about to leave the clearing and turned back to the strange, dangerous, inscrutable man, "I… I just wanted a chance to thank you, for helping me in that sandstorm, I found my tribe again, though I guess you already knew that, huh?"

No response.

"Well, thank you for helping me so many times, I'll try to stay out of trouble from now on, promise," he finished, spinning back around to follow his goats home.

"…Gaara. My name."

The boy froze for a second, before glancing over his shoulder to look at the man again; he was still sitting in the exact same position, but those hard, green eyes were now boring directly into his.

A wide grin stretched across his face, "It's nice to meet you Gaara!"

He ran after the goats with an energy he hadn't felt in weeks.

* * *

Clap, two, three, four.

"Under the arid sky, we wander,

Over the never still sand, we fly,

Through the blistering wind, we battle,

With our heavy heads, held high,"

Clap, two, three, four.

Naruto clapped along with everyone else, it was a slow beat, meant to line up with the words being recited, but having the whole tent join in with it gave it power. Ameno, Sajo, Sen and Yukata were singing in the distinct warbling sound that the boy had grown familiar with during his time with these people, though they kept their melody low enough that Satetsu's commanding voice could be heard clear.

The reciting of poetry was a regular way the tribe spent time when the day's chores were done, whether it was the elders telling grand tales of the tribe's noble history, Ameno and her stories of jinni and demons, or one of the other adults putting their emotions into verse; there always seemed to be someone performing something.

Right now Satetsu's poem about the Sabaku tribe's life was coming to an end, it was a little gloomy for Naruto's tastes, but the desert was indeed a harsh place to live, so he simply listened and clapped.

Clap, two, three, four.

"Under the hateful sun, we wither,

Over the sheer precipice, we stride,

Through the dizzying storm, we fragment,

With resolve in heart, we ride,"

Clap, two, three, four.

As the warrior's voice faded away there was a brief, quiet applause and then the next recital began.

This time, elder Ryusa took the 'stage', so to speak – they didn't actually have any platform to perform from, the mid-sized group were simply settled around the crackling fire, whoever wanted to speak would just have to have the charisma to keep everyone's attention – and started to tell one of his epic tales concerning the history of the tribe.

"In times long past, when honour and strength governed the desert, with iron fist and swift camel, the greatest of our great people controlled the very wind and sand itself; Sheikh Sabaku no Shamon, the man who led our tribe from ambition to fruition, he took what Sheikh Reto saw for us and made it manifest.

"The spineless Sheikh Fugi ruled the lands, from Wadi Kaze to the borders of Ma no Sabaku – the demon desert, where our people dwelled – he let his people spread and breed and devour all the desert had to give, his people were numerous, but weak-willed and undeserving of their riches. Reto had seen this weakness and knew that it could be overcome, through unimaginable displays of strength, he brought together the families of Ma no Sabaku that would become the backbone of the Sabaku tribe, however, his ambition was revealed to Fugi, by the traitorous Yura. Cowardly Fugi would not face such a celebrated warrior himself, he sent assassins to cut him down in his own tent, after being given hospitality by our gracious ancestor!

"Such disrespect could not stand, Shamon, Reto's eldest son, took the reins of the tribe, directing our rage and thirst for justice. He knew that one of our men was worth ten of Fugi's… yet we were outnumbered twenty to one, we would need more power to defeat our enemy.

"The clever Sheikh had heard tell of a wise, old hermit – a monk – who lived alone in a temple at the very heart of the desert, a temple devoted to the mightiest and most dangerous of all jinn, Shukaku of the Sands, the monk had long ago sealed the Shukaku into a worn, old tea-kettle, to keep him from bringing destruction and chaos to the desert. With a small band of his hardiest warriors he made the arduous trek to find the hermit, the journey was long and many hardships were faced by the brothers-in-arms, mischievous jinn sent sandstorms to accost them, Fugi's mercenaries ambushed them at every turn, it took months to reach the temple, but the indomitable Shamon kept the hearts and minds of his men firm.

"The temple was grand, a palace built out of the sand itself, it towered above any mere mortal structure and within, they found the monk. He introduced himself as Bunpuku and asked why they believed they deserved the aid of the jinni, 'We have ventured far to reach you,' Shamon declared, 'with the mighty Shukaku in our possession, we will take back the sands from those who do not comprehend their beauty and value, we will crush Fugi's armies and rule the desert with honour and wisdom.'

"The monk listened well to what they had to say, but he was a peace-loving man and he would not relinquish the kettle containing the jinni without an oath that the dangerous spirit would never be used as a weapon, that he would never be released from his prison to once again terrorise the land.

"Shamon knew that he could not defeat Fugi without Shukaku's power, but he also knew that allowing the jinni to roam free would mean the demise of all who called the desert their home. However, a plan had begun to form in his mind, he agreed to Bunpuku's terms and swore that his tribe would forever honour that oath and, with the small and battered kettle in hand, he and his men returned to his tribe.

"Though some in the tribe wished to unleash the jinni upon their enemy, Shamon held true to his word and kept Shukaku caged and with him in their possession they were graced with obedient winds and abundant luck. Together with his brothers and sons, the wise Sheikh commenced his plan; he and his strongest warriors led attacks on Fugi's weakest and most estranged peoples, they rode in fast and struck hard, always with the tea-kettle in clear sight. Just as Shamon had intended, the survivors returned to their master and told him of the horrors they had experienced, the power that had left them decimated and – most importantly – the worn kettle, displayed proudly upon Shamon's camel.

"Fearing the vast power held by our ancestor, Fugi arranged a summit to negotiate peace between their two peoples, Shamon arrived with only a small guard, the two men met and discussed terms. Fugi wanted the tribes to be combined, to rule the desert together, with our great forefather as his second, all past transgressions would be forgotten and they would combine their resources and power into one great nation.

"But, the deal was unacceptable! The Sabaku had been dishonoured with the assassination of Reto and we would no longer be oppressed by such a gutless tyrant; Shamon struck Fugi down with a roar of justice and secured revenge for the death of his father.

"Holding aloft the head of his foe in one hand and the Baytu-Ilah of Shukaku in the other, as the Sabaku army charged down the dunes and laid waste to the camp, he called the end of Fugi's reign and the commencement of the Sabaku's!"

Ryusa's voice rose to a cry as his tale ended, everyone around him crying out with him and applauding wildly. Such stories were always popular with the tribe, but as Naruto watched it all a little dumbfounded, he wondered why – if their tribe had once been so large and powerful – they were so small and impoverished now.

* * *

The heat was particularly unforgiving today, they had been walking much further into the afternoon than they normally would, usually they'd set up camp before the sun reached its highest point; but this time they were beset by a sandstorm in the early morning.

Luckily it hadn't lasted very long and they'd managed to hunker down and ride it out – Naruto had found out shortly after his first harrowing experience, that you should _never_ try and keep moving through one, you were nearly guaranteed to lose your way and would only tire yourself – but it had cost them a valuable hour of journeying time. They couldn't stop now though, they had to reach the next oasis on this route or they wouldn't have any water and water was the lifeblood of these people, living from source to source was the only way to survive.

Naruto wasn't sure he could keep going much longer, the air around them was so dry that every time he breathed in he could feel his saliva evaporating and fine dust tickling his throat. His loose robes had become so drenched with sweat that they stuck completely to his back, normally that would be a good thing – it kept him cooler – but right now there was no sharp wind to carry away the heat and, worst of all, he hadn't had anything to drink in hours.

Thirst was still the worst thing about this place, even when water was readily available Ameno always warned him not to drink more than he needed.

The muscles in his legs screamed white fire at him with every step and his head felt so heavy that he couldn't keep it up straight, any time he tried his vision would blur and spin, until he dropped his head back down and shut his eyes. His hand on Ameno's sleeve was the only thing keeping him on track.

But, he wasn't going to complain; everyone else was taking the punishing weather with stoic faces and calm minds, he just had to get used to it, he couldn't slow them down anymore, he was a nomad now, he had to act like one!

Ameno chuckled beside him, poking at his shoulder gently, "I think you are falling asleep my child," she said, "look up."

The boy groaned but warily lifted his head, his eyes still clenched tightly together against the red light searing his eyelids. Slowly he peeled them apart, waiting for his vision to clear...

"We made it!" he screamed, turning to his guardian just to make sure he wasn't imagining things, she grinned at him and nodded her head. Naruto didn't need another opinion, with a speed that had seemed impossible just a few minutes ago he charged towards the sparkling blue pool, dodging around bushes and trees until he was at the water's edge.

Then he jumped right in.

* * *

The stars were amazing tonight.

Naruto stared up at them in wonder, there must've been thousands, no hundreds of thousands, no _thousands_ of thousands! An ocean stars of so many colours and sizes, glittering like the ocean of sand below it did in the bright light of dawn.

He wasn't able to read them, not like others in his tribe – their scout, Tsubusa, could look at the night sky and know exactly what direction they were facing, where the next well was and how far they were from the edge or heart of the desert – for the blond, the stars were too indistinguishable and chaotic to pick out any specific constellations, but, he liked looking at them nonetheless.

They were just so… humbling, he felt like he could reach out and dip his hand into inky black water, dotted with beautiful specks of white, blue and gold, _feel_ the stars like grains of sand between his fingers.

But, no matter how far he stretched, he could never quite touch it.

It was quiet out here, the comforting sound of conversation was muffled by the tent's thick, camel-hair walls, though not enough that he couldn't just about make out Komushi's barking laughter, Sari's unending stream of chatter, Nae chastising her more rambunctious children, elder Sajo reciting his longwinded poetry about historic battles.

Naruto couldn't help smiling at how familiar it had all become, after almost a year and a half he finally felt like a member of the family, even the more untrusting members of the tribe had come around and treated him just like any of the other kids. He'd found a true home, a real family who expected him to do his chores and not slow the caravan down, but also gave him love and affection; he'd long ago given up his former life – an orphan boy, living rough on the unkind streets of Konoha – now he was a nomad, a _Sabaku_ , wandering the great sand seas and laughing with his beloved adoptive family.

But sometimes he needed to go outside and look up at the stars. Let himself remember where his life had begun and see just how different things were now.

He let out a contented sigh, finally pushing himself up off the ground – it was getting too cold to stay out much longer and he wanted to go back with the others and join in their fun. The boy shook his loose robes to remove the worst of the sand, stretching his arms awkwardly to brush his back clean, when he spotted movement, out in the dunes.

Naruto focused, trying to see what had caught his eye, probably just a fennec fox or-

No…

The boy glanced back at the camp behind him, most everyone was gathered in their tents at this time of night, only Pakura and Tsubusa keeping watch – just in case any other tribes were in the area – and both of them were looking away from him, if he was fast and could make it over the nearest dune before they changed position-

He legged it down the slope as fast as his feet would carry him.

* * *

It had taken a while to catch up – though not as long as it would have if his target had moved at any pace faster than 'glacial' – but he still had enough energy to run up to his prey and give his typically loud greeting.

"Gaara! Hey, where are you going?" Naruto asked, slowing down once he was only a few feet behind the man.

The red-clad figure slowly came to a halt and then slowly turned his head, just enough that he could slowly glance back at the boy out of the corner of one eye. He didn't say a word.

The blond scowled and walked up until he was standing next to the strange man. "Y'know it's rude to ignore people," he said, just like he was talking to any of his friends in the tribe, "I haven't seen you around for months, where've you been?"

Gaara stared blankly at him, head slightly tilted to one side.

"I've been great! Satetsu's finally agreed to start training me, so I'm gonna be the best warrior in the whole tribe soon, way better than Abiru, he doesn't know anything that jerk-" Naruto was rambling, he wasn't quite sure what he hoped to achieve – he'd only seen this man four times in his life – but there was something drawing him to Gaara, maybe those sad, lonely eyes of his?

"-she's way too good for him and Maki doesn't even like him, the only people she spends any time with are Pakura and Yukata, actually now that I think abo-"

"You didn't tell them."

"-they seem to be really, _really_ … Wait, what?" the boy trailed off as he belatedly realised that the redhead had actually said something.

The man didn't make any move to repeat himself, just kept that long, unblinking stare into the younger boy's eyes.

"Didn't tell who what?"

Gaara frowned slightly, brows creasing above his nose. "Your tribe. About me," his speech was slow and halting.

"Oh, that, wait! How do you even know that?" Naruto asked.

No response, again, just the tilted head and expectant stare.

"Ugh, fine, be like that. I didn't tell them, because they never asked, besides, I didn't wanna get in trouble, Ameno's always warning me to stay away from jinn and spirits and everything, that's what you are, right?" He stared challengingly at the man, he had finally gotten him to talk and he wasn't about to back down now just because the probably-jinni was giving him a weird look.

Green eyes narrowed at him, before glancing away for the first time since Naruto had called out to him. "Yes."

He waited for him to elaborate, but the man just started walking again, feet not disturbing a single grain of sand. The blond trotted to catch up, until he was walking at the redhead's side, folding his arms behind his head and looking up at the stars. "You don't talk much do you? What if I ask questions, will you answer them? Like, what kind of spirit are you?"

Gaara's pace actually increased, apparently he wasn't in the mood to reveal personal information.

"Alright! I won't ask you about that, but you could at least just stay and talk to me for a while," he said, pouting childishly.

The spirit suddenly stopped walking, Naruto turned to look back at him, but his head was down, hands clenched into tight fists, knuckles turning pale and shoulders shaking ever so slightly. "Why, are you here? What do you _want_ from me?" He was making that deep growling noise he'd made during the sandstorm.

He glared at his dropped head. "What do _I_ want? What do _you_ want, you're the one who keeps showing up outta nowhere to save my life and then disappear without saying a word! You're some powerful spirit, if you didn't want me to be around you, why would you even show yourself in the first place?" the boy asked, moving to stand right in front of Gaara, his hand jabbing out to poke the man's chest accusingly, but a stream of sand shot up from the ground and snapped around his thin wrist before he could make contact.

Naruto squeaked and tried to jerk his hand free, but it was held utterly still, sand tightening around his wrist, not enough to cause any damage, but certainly enough to hurt.

"H-hey, what're you doing, let me go!"

His hand was wrenched downward, pulling the rest of his body with it, until he was sitting on his knees on the sand. Naruto was beginning to really panic now, he'd thought that Gaara was safe, he'd seemed to be opening up – if only a little – and he'd saved him before, he couldn't understand why that had suddenly changed so fast. The boy felt tears springing into his eyes, his breathing ragged and heavy.

The man loomed over him for a few moments, fists still clenched and face hidden by shadow, before he slowly crouched down to the blond's level, his green eyes were narrowed and dangerous-looking, but Naruto could still see the sadness in them.

"What. Do. You. Want."

The boy took a deep breath to calm his nerves – it didn't help much – and spoke in as level a tone as he could manage right now, "I want your eyes to stop looking so lonely. I want to be your friend."

Gaara froze, in fact, everything did. The soft whistling of the wind cut off into eerie silence, the constantly shifting sand stopped with a suddenness that was entirely unnatural, Naruto glanced away for a second and saw that some grains were being held in the air, perfectly still. He dragged his gaze back to the spirit before him, his expression hadn't changed at all, he was still glaring, but his eyes were unfocussed, like they weren't really looking at him.

Naruto was too scared to move, to speak; he could only stare and pray that he hadn't just sealed his own death warrant.

Slowly – _why is it always slowly with him?_ – Gaara's eyes sharpened, his expression shifted and the world around them revived, but the boy quickly wished that it hadn't. The redhead's lips contorted into a snarl, revealing teeth that were much too sharp, his fine, almost invisible, brows knit together. Breeze became wind became gale, whipping sand into the air, lashing against him.

But the worst was the eyes. The redhead's green eyes only flashed gold for a split-second, but that was enough for him to feel what they expressed.

Malice, rage, pain. Madness.

By the time he'd registered those emotions they were gone and so was Gaara; only a sprinkling of sand, curling like smoke, in his place.


	4. Progress

Sorry it's been such a long wait, been busy with work and chaps for this fic inevitably require more research than I did in my initial planning phase cause I'm awful at everything planning related. In this chap it was historical combat and weaponry, which is something I've always had a huge interest in, even before starting this, as a result I might be going slightly overboard with the details and research for the warrior training parts of this chap. No regrets. (Though hundreds upon hundreds of fanfics have completely ruined my ability to take talk of 'swords clashing together' seriously *ahem*)

If you're at all interested in that sort of thing I wholeheartedly recommend the youtube channels Scholagladiatoria (for general weaponry and combat talk, mostly European-centric HEMA stuff) and Razmafzar (for Iranian/Persian martial arts, including lots of recorded sparring and instructional seminars on wrestling and swordplay, some of which I tried to directly ref in this chap)!

Also: autistic Matsuri is everything and I love her to bits.

* * *

Perhaps it hadn't been the best idea to run off like he had. Sure, he was angry and yes, he was completely justified in his anger, but maybe he should have stayed and explained his reasons for being upset, instead of just bolting into the desert and getting himself lost.

He didn't want to think about what Ameno's face would look like when he eventually found his way home.

She was just so… _restricting_ sometimes! His mother – he didn't know when he'd started calling her that, but it felt so natural that he didn't even question it these days – never gave him any freedom, always hovering, always worrying, she seemed to think that he was still that same terrified foreigner they had stumbled upon, half-dead at an oasis, so long ago.

But he wasn't; he was nearly eleven years old now, it had taken time but he now knew exactly how to look for venomous creatures that like to bury themselves in sand, he knew how to ration his water so he didn't get dehydrated, he could walk over the sand almost as gracefully as those born to it, he knew the warning signs of a sandstorm and what to do should he be caught in one and he was even starting his warrior training, she didn't need to protect him from everything anymore!

Ameno didn't seem to see any of that though, she just saw him as a silly child who'd get himself into trouble at the first opportunity.

The boy kicked at the sand as he walked, he knew, he just _knew_ , that once he was home once more, she would use this as an excuse to never let him out of her sight ever again. He let out an aggravated sigh and looked around, maybe there was a landmark he'd recognise somewhere.

The sun was just setting, so he knew that the huge, orange orb was to the east and the dunes in this part of the desert were long lines that went north-to-south; unfortunately, there was little to break up the huge waves of sand and he'd been too angry to count the dunes he'd passed in his angry dash away from Ameno.

Naruto slowed to a halt; he couldn't just keep wandering blindly into the desert, hoping that he stumbled upon the camp, though – in all honesty – he wasn't sure he wanted to go back just yet, he was still angry and he the only thing that would be waiting for him there was more arguments and punishment for running off alone. At least when he'd run away he'd had a full canteen of water on him and it was the only part of the day when the temperature was somewhat bearable.

He was wondering if he might be able to see the camp by climbing to the top of the taller dunes, when he heard the gentle swishing of fabric and the tiniest disturbance of sand behind him. Silently praying that it wasn't an angry Ameno, the blond turned to look.

"Oh, Gaara… Umm, hello?" he said, taking in the man standing only a few feet behind him, scarf trailing dramatically in a non-existent wind and large, dark-rimmed eyes staring blankly into his blue ones.

The spirit didn't say anything – nothing unusual there – but he didn't make any move to attack the boy either, so apparently he'd calmed down some since their last meeting.

There was a long minute of awkward silence, before Gaara suddenly dropped to sit cross-legged on the ground, his movement was more swift than the boy was used to seeing from him, but still graceful and effortless. Naruto gingerly copied the action and then they simply sat staring at each other, the human wondering what exactly the spirit wanted, if anything at all; but this time, he decided, he was going to wait for Gaara to make the first move.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, long enough for his tingling feet to cause him to shift positions, though the sky was still a deep burnt orange – his favourite colour, coincidentally – with only a little bit of purple growing over the horizon, so not that long then, but eventually, with a frown that had been emerging slowly over the long minutes, Gaara spoke.

"I don't understand."

Well, that made two of them.

"Understand what?" Naruto asked, relieved that the uncomfortable tension had finally been broken and that the spirit was being somewhat cooperative for a change.

Gaara's frown deepened, but it was less angry than confused, "You, wanted to be… friends," he said, in his slow, gravelly voice. The boy waited to see if he would elaborate on that, but he was only looking at him with that confused, stubborn frown.

"Yeah, I do. Only if you want to though, you don't _have_ to be my friend."

The spirit blinked, slowly. "Why, would you want that," he said, Naruto idly wondered at his ability to make questions sound like statements – maybe it was a jinni thing?

He took a moment to think it over, last time he'd tried talking about how sad and lonely Gaara always looked and he'd had his hand trapped in a vice of sand for the effort, so that was probably a sore subject; he'd have to try a different approach.

"Well, you did save my life like, a hundred times now, so you must be a nice person, right? And, I think you're interesting too, y'know being a jinni and all, you can do some really neat stuff, like that sand-rope thing and disappearing into nothing and I guess you can make winds too, 'cause your scarf is always floating around and you kinda made a storm that one time and-" he cut himself off suddenly, realising that he'd been rambling on. He cleared his throat nervously, "Well, yeah, all of that."

The redhead's eyes narrowed dangerously, a near-silent growl started, "So, you want my power."

Naruto had the terrible feeling he'd just dug himself a nice deep pit in the sand. "No! I mean, it's amazing that you can do all that stuff, but it's mostly the saving me and being a nice person parts that make me want to be your friend!"

"… I am not, a nice person."

The boy gave him a confused look. "Uh, sorry, a nice jinni then?"

"I am not nice," Gaara stressed, finally turning his eerie green eyes away, his expression was back to being blank, but his voice had softened – just a bit.

"Of course you are! Sure, maybe you're not as nice as Yukata or anything, but almost all of the stories I've heard about spirits is about how scary and dangerous they are and how they hate humans and that I should never talk to them, you're not like that though, you're quiet and kinda weird, but I like that about you. So… do you think you might want to be friends with me?" the blond asked, grinning widely.

There was another long stretch of silence as the spirit thought it over, gaze still turned to the side, watching the last of the sunset just dipping below the horizon.

"I… Have not had a, friend, before," he eventually murmured, refusing to make eye-contact.

Naruto's smile faded for just a second – that was really sad, but then again, he'd never had a friend until last year when he first found the Sabaku tribe and he couldn't ever describe the feeling of knowing there were people who enjoyed your company and cared for your wellbeing, he wanted to give the lonely jinni that experience too! "That's alright, it's easy, I'll show you!"

Gaara finally looked at him again, an expression of surprise just barely visible on his face. "… Very well. However, if you ever tell your tribe about my existence, then I will kill you all," his eyes narrowed, flashing gold for just a second, to drive in his seriousness.

The blond boy gulped, but didn't back down, just nodded stiffly – he'd never intended to tell them anyway, Ameno would never let him have an interesting, dangerous spirit friend like Gaara.

But, what Ameno didn't know couldn't hurt her.

"I promise. So, uhm, I don't suppose you happen to know where they are, do you? I'm a little bit lost and really hungry."

* * *

"Distance!" The bark shattered Naruto's concentration, as he turned his head to look at the man sitting to his right, a hard blow struck his left side – just under his ribs, completely knocking the breath out of him.

Abiru's snicker left him seeing red.

With a cry, the blond boy swung his practise sword as hard as his untrained muscles would allow, it swooshed through nothing; his opponent had taken an effortless stride back and was now lunging back in, blunted shamshir connecting painfully against his outstretched arm.

Naruto dropped his weapon.

"Enough. Abiru practise your drills, Naruto pick up your sword, we are going through this again," Satetsu said, rising to his feet and picking up his own practise sword.

Trying to push the older boy's obnoxious smirk out of his mind, the blond took his shamshir back into his grasp, even though he'd been training for nearly a whole month, the long, thin blade – heavily curved towards the end – was still an unnatural weight in his hand, as was the separ; a small, round shield, on the adults it only just covered their hand and wrist, but for the short, skinny boy it reached almost to his elbow.

His instructor took his stance directly in front of the boy. "Come at me," he said, in his low, gravelly voice.

Naruto followed the order, carefully keeping his shield up as he lunged at the man.

The thrust was easily blocked and then countered, blunted steel hitting against his shoulder, even as Satetsu was stepping in to hook a leg behind his knee and force him to the ground.

They broke apart and the man stepped a few paces back, waiting for him to get back up.

"Do you know why you lost that match?"

"Because you're a master warrior and I'm just a little kid?" Naruto said, scowling and kicking at the rocky ground beneath him.

Satetsu sighed, before calling over Shira, who had been observing the training. "We will spar, watch us closely and pay attention to where we move during and after our strikes."

With the preamble over, the two soldiers immediately readied for combat; stances low and shield-arm up to protect them, swords raised, but not close enough to touch more than the very tips. It wasn't very impressive, in all honesty, one would swipe their sword forward, only to be blocked or countered, they circled very slowly, eyes always fixed on their opponent, occasionally one man would lunge forwards, land a blow against the other and then immediately back away.

After a few minutes of this, Shira finally thrust forward, the older man knocked his arm to the side with his shield, stepped in close and hovered his sword just over Shira's throat.

As one, the two stepped apart and Naruto's teacher turned to him expectantly.

"What did you see?"

The boy urgently wracked his mind for any morsel of knowledge that he had gained from watching them, but the only things that came to mind were how far behind he was in his training. "I… don't know," he mumbled, dropping his head in shame.

A hard hand landed softly on his shoulder, he looked up into Shira's scarred, but kind, face.

"It's fine for you to not know, you're still learning; we'll slow down and explain what you should be watching for." Standing back up, the young man wandered over to his senior, they once again took their stances.

Satetsu cleared his throat, "Your biggest weakness right now, is your distance from your opponent," he said, he tapped the tip of his shamshir against Shira's. "Right now, we are at a distance where neither one of us can hit the other without lunging or taking a step forwards; if we were any closer, then we would be in constant striking distance and at risk, any further apart and we would have to take more than one step to close that distance and land a hit, thereby exposing our intent to the enemy, who can much easier counter or block.

" _This_ is the only distance to be when fighting, close enough that we won't telegraph our intentions, but far enough that we can block or dodge any attacks against us. Once you've stepped in to attack, you must either step back, or step in closer to grapple your opponent, but you cannot linger."

The man stepped forwards and swiped at Shira – who raised his own sword just in time to parry – then darted back to his former position.

"What you have been doing is this," he once again lunged to thrust at the younger man, but this time he stayed at the same distance, making to attack again, but he was not quick enough to dodge Shira's blow to his chest as he prepared his own strike. "Do you see where the problem lies? You are too eager, you land one hit and believe that you will have thrown your opponent off enough that you will be able to get in another and another, but you can never count on that; in a real battle, where life and death and honour are at stake, a man can fight through pain with his pure will to live, to kill, to defend those he loves."

A snort came from their left, all three turned to look at the adolescent who had apparently stopped his drills in order to watch the demonstration. "You're wasting your time with him, he's never going to get it." Abiru said, idly spinning his sword.

"The one on shore is a master swimmer, Abiru!" Shira called out, as he made his way over to his son, "You have talent, I'll admit, but talent without skill is like a desert with no oasis," he didn't waste a second, already launching his attack on the youth, who's expression turned sharply from smugness to dread, as he flailed to fend his father off.

Satetsu sighed and shook his head, before opening his eyes and fixing the blond boy with his hardest stare.

"In haste, there is regret, but in patience and care, there is safety; now, try it again and remember to keep your distance," he said, getting back into his stance and motioning for Naruto to do the same. Taking a deep breath, the boy followed the command, stepping forwards until the tip of his sword only just touched the older man's, then he lunged forwards, swung and stepped back.

He didn't manage to land the hit and his execution was clumsy, but as they continued their practise – with Satetsu's occasional hints or corrections of his footwork – he found himself keeping his distance out of pure habit and even managing to land a few blows against his instructor.

By the time they called the session to an end, Naruto was covered in aching bruises, but he felt more confident in his skills than he ever had before.

* * *

Naruto watched the herd bounding around the dunes; kids chasing each other to scrub bushes, playfully fighting over the most vibrant and full ones, young does following from a distance, watching over their babies, while the older nannies were all sitting together in one spot, where some feed had been gathered for them.

It was a pleasant sight, especially since he wasn't in charge of herding them right now – Mujin was taking care of that – though he wished that his companion would stop talking, for just one minute.

"-and you have to be really careful with the borders, 'cause if you get them wrong then it messes up the whole pattern, I'm not very good at doing straight lines though, so Sari does those bits for me and I just fill them in-"

Matsuri had been nattering on for what felt like hours, not even stopping to breathe, Naruto would've been impressed if her chosen topic of conversation wasn't so _dull_. "-ruto? Naruto?"

"Mhmm," he forced out, not even trying to appear interested, though the younger girl was notoriously bad at picking up on that sort of thing, so it was unlikely that she'd notice. And with the way that she smiled and started back up wherever she'd left off, she hadn't.

It wasn't that he disliked her, she was very sweet and had been a good friend to him since he first joined the tribe – once she'd gotten over her initial shyness – but, she just could not tell when she was boring people and her obsession with embroidery was very boring, especially to a boy who was more interested in fighting and exciting stories about the great battles of the past and all the strange spirits who dwelled in the desert.

"-see these dots here? They're to represent sand and then above them the little crosses are the stars-"

He wasn't sure he could put up with this any longer, he just needed to take a break from her, _only for an hour or so_ , he promised himself. "Hey did you hear that?" he asked, interrupting her talk about the many different kinds of needles.

She blinked at the sudden shift in conversation, but shook her head slowly, "No, I don't hear anything."

"I think Ameno was calling me," he said, as convincingly as he could.

"Oh, well, you should go find her then, do you want me to come with you?"

"No!" the boy cleared his throat, "Nah, I'm sure you have stuff to do, she probably just wants me to help her pick herbs, I'll see you at supper alright?" He didn't wait for an answer, already jogging off towards the tents, darting into the first one to get out of her sight.

He huddled against the thick fabric wall, waiting for the girl to follow him in at any second, but after a minute with neither hide nor hair of her, he let out a sigh of relief.

Now he'd just have to hide until dinner time and not go outside where she could see him _not_ helping his mother picking herbs… Perhaps this was a bad plan, there were so many ways in could backfire, Ameno could be out wandering the camp for anyone to see, Matsuri could ask what she needed during their evening meal, someone could come in and berate him for sitting around doing nothing… Maybe he should just go and see if his mother really did need anything, she'd surely welcome the help.

He was just preparing himself to the inevitability of more work, when he heard some muffled, but familiar, laughter nearby.

Following the noise lead him to the thick curtain that blocked one section of the tent from another, filtering through the patterned wall was that laughter again, loud, obnoxious, mocking laughter. His teeth were immediately set on edge at Abiru and Amagi's tone, even before hearing what they were actually saying.

"She's like a fly buzzing around, even when you try and swat her away she just comes back even more annoying, I don't know how Sari puts up with it," Amagi said, snickering slightly.

"Yeah, she really is like a fly! Never thought of that before," the older boy laughed, Naruto could easily picture his nasty smirk, the same one he always gave the blond when training. "She doesn't even deserve to be here, she's not good at anything and always slows the tribe down, I wish she'd just go eat shit like all the other flies."

Naruto felt his fists clenching, he had the sinking suspicion that he knew who they were talking about.

Amagi's hyena-like cackle came through the curtain, loud and clear. "She should and I bet she would too, everyone knows that she'll eat anything," he said, barely able to get the words out between his laughter.

He only noticed that he was gritting his teeth when his jaw suddenly started aching, his fingernails had long since dug deep impressions into his palms.

"Maybe we should try it, sneak some dung onto her plate at supper and see if she even realises!"

Naruto couldn't stay calm any longer.

With a roar, he leapt through the curtain to where he heard the voice coming from – barely registering the snaps of the curtain coming loose – he landed a little to the left of his target, but the adolescent was still in a state of shock and hadn't reacted. He didn't give him the chance to recover, immediately jumping on the older boy, pushing him onto his back and pinning him as well as he could with his smaller, lighter frame.

Naruto managed to get his forearm jammed under Abiru's chin, putting just enough pressure on his throat to cause him difficulty, while with his free hand he landed blow after blow on the scared, confused face below him.

His unhindered assault didn't last long before Amagi was pushing him off and helping his friend to his feet, Naruto was just preparing himself to attack again when another pair of hands on his skinny arms was pulling him back. He was blind to who it was though; burning, blue gaze fixed solely on the two bullies before him, it was only when he was physically pulled out of the tent and could no longer see them that the world came back into focus around him.

The one who had been forcing him away from his fight was old man Sajo, that wasn't good – of everyone in the tribe, outside of Abiru and Amagi, he was the one who disliked him most and had been the most against his joining the tribe.

And he did not look happy right now.

"I imagine you have some convenient excuse for your behaviour in there," he said, dropping the blond's arm sharply, to gesture at the tent.

Naruto glared at it for a second – he could hear the raised voices coming from inside, probably the others getting the same treatment – before turning his glare up into the hard, dark eyes of the tribe elder.

Sajo furrowed his bushy eyebrows, "Well?"

He was ready to spit out the vile words that the two older boys had spoken earlier, when, just out of the corner of his eye, he saw a young, brown-haired girl, shrinking behind Mujin, gripping tightly to her father's robes. Her dark eyes were bouncing visibly between the boy and the old man, she looked like she was seconds away from either rushing over to help, or passing out.

"I was defending the honour of our tribe, sir," he managed to ground out, his jaw still clenched painfully.

"Care to explain, brat?" the man asked, the hint of a growl in his voice.

The blond dipped his head as he tried to collect himself. He couldn't shout, as much as he wanted to; not because it would make Sajo mad at him, but because he didn't want to upset Matsuri, she was too sweet and kind to have to hear the horrible things people said about her behind her back.

"Those two were mocking a member of our tribe. Ameno always tells me that we never forsake one of our own, no matter if you like them or not, 'cause if we don't protect and look out for each other, then no one else will," he said, as calmly and quietly as he could manage, lifting his head to meet Sajo's glare head-on.

Though he couldn't stop himself from nervously glancing over at the girl he was protecting, it was only for a second, but by the time his eyes had flicked back to the old man, Sajo had followed his gaze.

A short moment passed as understanding swept through the Elder's face, "I see. I shall have to speak with Ameno about her teachings, she should have also told you that we disapprove of those who turn on our own in violence. But… your cause was just," he shook his head and sighed, "I shall see to it that the same lessons are more firmly instilled in those of our tribe who have forgotten them; the council will still be discussing your punishment though, do not assume a noble ambition forgives foolhardy actions."

Naruto pouted slightly, but didn't want to start another fight, at least the old man was being somewhat nice to him for a change. As Sajo turned away – hopefully, to berate Abiru and Amagi for an hour straight and make them go without dinner tonight – he was nearly pushed off his feet by the body slamming into his side.

"Are you alright? What happened, you didn't get in a fight did you? We heard noises and everyone was trying to get in the tent and Elder Sajo looked really mad, he's not going to punish you is he?" Matsuri was on the verge of tears and couldn't get her words out fast enough.

Patting the younger girl's head and gently prying her off of him, the boy gave her his widest, happiest grin.

"I'm fine, just dishing out justice! But, I'm probably gonna get it later, you wanna come hide with me?"

Her giggling and eager nod was all the answer he needed to grab her hand and belt off towards a craggy rock formation that looked like it had lots of hidey-holes for the two to hunker down in. He was never going to abandon her friendship for anything, no matter how boring embroidery was.

* * *

There were many rules out in the desert.

Never travel alone if you can travel in a group. Never take more than you need. Always welcome those in need. Cooperation is the key to any success. A loss soon is better than a victory much later. Spirits are not to be trifled with, under any circumstances.

But, most importantly of all; _never_ disturb the Honoured Siblings.

Sari was clinging desperately to Naruto's right arm, Ittetsu to his left and Yaoki was cowering behind him, head peaking over the small blond's shoulder.

In front of them was the small, black tent that housed the Honoured Siblings.

"Maybe they didn't hear us, we should leave," Sari whispered, her nails digging painfully into Naruto's skin, but he was too scared to complain. Slowly, with as much sneakiness as they could muster, the group backed away, none of them daring to turn their gaze from the structure before them.

Slowly, carefully, one step at a ti-

"Aah!" Naruto squealed embarrassingly as he stepped a little too far, falling back on top of Yaoki and pulling Sari down with him, the eldest boy in the group only just managing to stay standing.

The four children were utterly still once the dust had settled, all staring at the tent that could mean their doom. Ten seconds, fifteen, thirty… They all let out a sigh of relief, in almost perfect unison, as a full minute passed and no terrifying ancients emerged to beat them for their impudence. Pulling each other up from the ground, they chuckled softly at their silliness, making to walk back to their own tents-

" _What_ do you brats think you are doing?" The harsh voice cut into their lifted moods like a hot knife through butter, stealing away every bit of heat from the, already stifling, early-afternoon air.

As one, the children all turned to face the voice; it belonged to a short woman, so old she looked like her face had been carved out of stone, wrinkles emphasizing the hard lines of her scowl. Even with her eyes mostly hidden beneath deep folds of skin, the pure, icy rage of her glare could be felt full-force.

"Well?" she snapped, the children all flinched back in terror.

The growl that the woman released gave Naruto a creeping sense of déjà vu, it was deep and guttural and promised death. "I did not realise we were raising such cowards these day, is this what our tribe has become? A worthless bunch of snivelling children who cannot admit to their own faults? One of you better have the nerve to speak up soon, or I will rain punishment upon all of you and whatever monkeys raised you too!"

An unbearable silence stretched out between them, the children shooting terrified glances between each other and the being who radiated pure wrath in front of them.

It was only when he saw the faces of his friends – Sari, trying to hide her face in his sleeve, Ittetsu, lips quivering and eyes already streaming, Yaoki, twitching uncontrollably and eyes flicking around so much the blond feared they might pop out any second – that Naruto found the strength to do something.

Gently pulling his arm out of the younger girl's grasp, he stepped forwards.

"It was my fault, Honoured Sister, we were playing nearby and I accidentally fell down the dune; the others only followed to make sure I was ok," he said, his voice wouldn't stop shaking, but he managed to keep his eyes steady.

The stand-off continued as the short old lady kept her glare fixed on the group, as though daring one of the other kids to speak up.

"So, that's how it is. The foreigner is the only one with the spine to take responsibility?"

"Now, now sis, there's no need to be so hard on them, I am sure it was an honest mistake," an unfamiliar voice croaked from behind the woman. Slowly shuffling their way out of the tent was an elderly man, his back was bent with age, but he had clearly once been a tall man. A bushy, white beard covered most of his face and his eyes were just as hooded as his sisters, but even with his more physically looming presence, he had a much softer, _kinder_ , air about him.

Naruto had never actually seen the Honoured Brother, at least not close enough to make out any real details, he was even more elusive than the Sister.

The elderly lady scoffed, "We have made our distaste for others very clear, we do not tolerate disturbances for anything that does not require a Sheik's involvement! If we let these brats go without punishment, then it will encourage all the other fools in the tribe to start pestering us with every little thing they cannot solve themselves; I have no desire to be reminded at how far our people have fallen with their incompetence," she spat.

"I believe you are overreacting sis, you go back inside and I will talk to these children," the man said, shaky hands weakly, but persistently, urging the ancient back into the tent.

It took a minute for her to stop her glowering and relent and then another minute for her to hobble out of sight and they could still hear the curses being muttered under her breath, even after the thick cloth had flopped shut behind her.

Shaking his head, the Brother turned back to the group of children cowering before him, "I am sure you meant no harm, but my sister and I are both very old, we have lived long, hard lives and now, we would just like to rest. I will not punish you this time, but next time I will not stop sis from doing as she pleases, do you understand?"

His nodding was so urgent that it almost made Naruto dizzy.

"Good, make sure that everyone else knows it too, run along now, I'm sure you have chores to be getting on with," with that said, he slowly turned and shuffled his way back to his tent.

Not wanting to stick around – just in case the Sister came back out – the children scrambled to their feet and charged up the dune, it was only when they were safely at the top that they stopped, panting and leaning heavily on each other, nervous laughter echoing through the erg.

* * *

He watched in amazement as the two women danced around each other, feet light and strikes so fast he could barely keep up.

Though, that wasn't surprising, Pakura was the tribe's greatest warrior – everyone agreed, even Abiru – and Maki had been trained by her since she was younger than Naruto, of course watching the two women fight would be at once inspiring and disheartening.

They didn't usually join the others for their training sessions; the older woman claimed she didn't like having students, Maki had only wormed her way into it through her sheer persistence and near-obsession with the warrior – apparently, long before Naruto had shown up, Pakura had saved the young girl from slavers and brought her to the tribe, who had happily taken her in and she'd been desperate to follow in the footsteps of her rescuer ever since.

Naruto gasped as the younger of the two fighters stepped in close, hooked her shield around the elder's sword hand and hooked a leg behind her knee.

Pakura didn't even flinch, she jerked her leg back – disturbing Maki's balance – and in one unbelievably fast, fluid movement, threw her to the ground, somehow managing to grab her sword arm and lock it, twisted at an awkward-looking angle between her bent leg and chest, her thickly muscled arm wrapped tightly around the younger woman's, one knee pressed heavily into the girl's ribs and her sword pressed to her throat.

He hadn't even seen how she'd done it.

After a few seconds when the defeat was accepted, the two broke apart and Maki stood back up, already taking her shamshir and preparing for another round.

The blond couldn't believe how incredible they were; sure, Shira was easily the strongest member of the entire tribe, and Satetsu was its most experienced warrior, but these two were just terrifying to watch. When the others sparred they held back, never swinging with their full strength and always being careful to not cause injury, but these two were brutal, they fought like they were going up against a real enemy and both always ended up covered in bruises and gashes.

It was more than a little bit intimidating and yet, he still wanted to join them in their training.

Not that they'd let him, occasionally they would spar with the other trained warriors, but Pakura was adamant that she wouldn't go up against any of the children and her only student had copied her mentor in almost everything, even taking on only one female apprentice in Yodo and refusing to interact with the others outside of occasional, cryptic advice.

But he just wanted the opportunity to test himself against someone other than Abiru – who would mock him when he lost and claim he was going easy on him when he won – and Satetsu.

There was a sharp poke to his back.

Slowly, reluctant to tear his eyes away from the display of skill being put on before him, he turned to find its source. The tip of a shamshir and, following the curved blade upwards, Yodo, pinning him with a sharp, challenging gaze.

"Spar?" she asked.

Naruto grinned widely and immediately jumped to his feet, "Yeah, I hope you know what you're getting into though!"

She gave him an annoyed frown, but quietly waited for him to gear up and take his battle position, once he was there, she launched herself at him.

Her style of fighting was drastically different to what he was used to from Satetsu and Shira – she had mostly trained under Maki and it showed – she was significantly more aggressive than the others and moved much more, circling around him and feinting more often, managing to get more than a few hits in that way.

But, it was still more enjoyable fighting her than Abiru, she didn't keep up a constant commentary of goading insults and she never looked down on him when he was struck down, she just held out a hand to pull him up and try again.

Even when he got a good strike at her legs, that knocked her down and allowed him to win the bout; she didn't make any arrogant remarks or get angry, she nodded courteously at him and suggested a way to improve his technique. He won the next point too, though she quickly evened the score, but it was easily the most enjoyable sparring session he'd ever had.

He'd definitely be seeking her out for more in the future.

* * *

Naruto was running between two dunes; when he reached the top of one, he'd stop for a short moment to catch his breath, then immediately run back down and then up the dune next to it. Then he'd turn around, catch his breath, run back down, run back up, breathe, down, up, breathe, down, up.

All of this, in the burning heat of the late afternoon.

The rest of the tribe were camped under a sheltered rock face a short ways away, every time the boy crested the top of the dune closest to them – down, up, breathe – he could see their three tents, so much smaller from way up here – down, up, breathe – and the tiny white specks of the herd, spread out to graze the scrub that grew on the flat plane – down, up, breathe – and the tiny black dots of his family going about their chores – down, up, breathe.

His legs were burning from his stamina and endurance training, as were his arms and chest and _lungs_. He was so drenched in sweat that his robes stuck to him completely; he'd tied the bottom half up to give his legs freedom from the sticking, smothering cloth, but judging by the bright red they'd slowly turned over the course of an hour, that hadn't been the wisest move.

The only reason the boy couldn't feel the sunburn, was because his muscles were screaming too loudly for his skin to get a word in edgeways.

Breathe, down, up, breathe, down, breathe, breathe… breathe…

Finally, his body gave out on him, he collapsed in a heap, right in between the two dunes he'd been scaling, lying on his back and just waiting for the world to stop spinning.

His chest ached with every deep, gulping inhale, his legs had run so far into agony, that they had apparently shot right out the other side, leaving only a distant, tingly feeling that hinted at a very painful near-future. Naruto grinned up at the cloudless, blue sky, breathless laugh spilling from his horribly abused lungs.

This would show Abiru! He'd run up and down two huge sand dunes, for an hour straight, during the hottest part of the day, with only one canteen of water to sip from.

He couldn't wait to rub it in his face that he wasn't some no-good weakling who'd never make it as a warrior; the blond was going to become the best warrior the tribe had ever seen, even if he wasn't great with swords yet, even if he was a few years behind his peers in their training, no matter what, he was going to prove himself to everyone.

Just as soon as the feeling returned to his body.

* * *

"So, what about the Waswas, do you know them?"

The man glanced at Naruto from the corner of his eye, "No."

Frowning, the boy flumped down onto his back, staring up at the stars above them. "Do you know _any_ spirits?" he asked.

"A few… Most, fear me," Gaara eventually said.

It'd taken a little while for the blond to get him to open up enough to answer simple questions about himself – he'd started off their tentative friendship by just blathering on about whatever new was happening in his life, until one day, he had nothing more to say – but now that he had he was beginning to realise just how isolated the jinni was. He apparently hated humans – even referring to them once as a plague upon the desert – and he didn't really know any of the non-human entities who dwelled in the sands either.

He pushed himself up again, looking at the redhead bewilderedly, "They're scared of you? Why?"

Piercing green bored into him, but the spirit's expression remained calm. "Because, I am, more than them," his voice had become less hoarse and halting since the first time he'd spoken, but it still sounded low and dangerous, the kind of voice that made the hairs of your neck stand on end.

Naruto shivered slightly, for some reason he couldn't quite grasp, that voice appealed to him greatly; it was almost the same sensation he got when he was planning mischief, but… darker somehow.

"I don't get it; do you mean you're stronger than them?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed at him, he was still wary whenever talk of his powers came up. "…Yes."

He was stepping into dangerous territory here, best to drop the subject for now. "So, what do you do all day then? If you don't talk to humans and you don't talk to other spirits, don't you get bored?" the boy asked, leaning back on his hands.

The redhead stared for a few more seconds, before averting his gaze to the rocky plain before him. "I do not, get bored."

Naruto frowned, the man certainly didn't like to give complete answers, "What about animals? The goats seem to like you a lot," he asked, desperate to find _something_ they could really start to build a bond over.

"Animals, are tolerable."

After a long moment where neither one spoke, the boy finally accepted that he wasn't going to get anything more from him.

He let out a deep sigh, what else was there to talk about with an ancient jinni? Actually…

"So, how old are you? You look pretty young, but I guess spirits don't age like people do." He shifted to sit a little closer, examining his companion's face in more detail than he had before, if he was human, Naruto would probably put his age at around seventeen – maybe even a little younger – his golden brown skin was smooth and flawless, unlike everyone else he'd met from the desert, their faces were rough and craggy, constantly beaten at by the sun, wind and sand, Gaara looked like he'd never faced such hardship in his life.

Then again, he probably hadn't; he could easily control the sands and the wind bent to his will.

Pale green eyes glanced back towards the boy, but quickly skittered away again. "I don't know. Time is meaningless, to an immortal," he muttered, though his voice sounded distant, sad almost.

"That sounds really," Naruto started, before pausing and furrowing his brow in thought, "I don't know, I can't think what it sounds like. You must do something though, other than wandering around the desert; do you have some spirit job you have to do? Like how Quarin follow people around and whisper in their ears."

Gaara seemed to give it a little consideration before answering. "I… do not have any task bestowed on me by a higher being, though, I may alter the landscape, keep the desert alive and growing and ever-changing."

That had quite possibly been the most Naruto had heard the man say at once.

"Huh and you do that for the whole desert?" he asked, not quite comprehending what the jinni was saying.

"Yes."

Well, that answered that then. "That's amazing! Can you move huge dunes and make sandstorms and-"

"Not for you," the man cut in, glaring sharply.

Naruto wilted slightly, but before he could force a smile back on his face and explain that he wasn't actually _asking_ him to do any of those things right now, the redhead was already gone.

He groaned and fell onto his back, slapping his hands over his eyes. So much for making progress.


	5. Pilgrimage

Ok it's super late and I've got work tomorrow morning and I _probably_ shouldn't have stayed up so long trying to get this finished, but I haven't updated this in years and I've been sitting on this chap trying to get it ready to go for way too long, so yeah if you pick up any typos (or godawful writing in general) lemme know and I'll get them sorted, I just feel so bad for making you wait so long (if it's any consolation this chap ended up being the longest thus far and it's got some of my favourite scenes I've ever written for the fic in it so yeah) Hope you enjoy and I'll try and get my act together for the next chap.

mala'ikah: angel

Shayla: a type of head covering worn by women, more like a long rectangular scarf wrapped around the head and neck than the more well-known hijab

* * *

The air was thick with excitement, noise and tension.

They'd been travelling almost non-stop for over a week, only breaking to rest and draw much needed water from the wells they passed – they hadn't even let the goats graze like they normally would, which led to them being much crankier than usual.

But, all the temperamental goats, exhausting travel through the unforgiving afternoon sun and even harsher rationing of water and food, would all be worth it soon enough.

Though, Naruto seemed to be the only one truly eager for what was happening; some of the younger children were chattering excitedly to each other, but the tense silence of the adults had dampened their spirits. The boy couldn't understand it, they were travelling to the largest city in the land, Sunagakure, to join the pilgrimage that every desert-dwelling tribe took part in every two years – yes, he'd been told many times that other clans were not to be trusted under any circumstances, but Ameno had assured him that during pilgrimage there was a strict truce out of respect for the spirits and Gods they prayed to for luck, fortune and health.

The distant racket – that had been echoing through the empty dunes for the last few hours of their journey – was now rising to an uproar. Sounds of talking, laughing, shouting, the clatter of metal and the whisper of many bodies moving at once; Naruto was already running ahead of his tribe, scaling the impossibly tall dune that separated them from the source of the commotion.

Huge, towering walls, seemingly carved out of a _mountain_ , dominated the landscape, looming far above any dune, it was impossible to see the city held safe behind those walls, but, despite that, everywhere, there was life.

The sheer amount of colour and movement was astounding; the blond boy had never expected to see such life and energy, not in this hard land of impoverishment and restraint.

Tents – hundreds, upon _hundreds_ of tents! Some settled right next to the grand stone walls, others at the very foot of the dune Naruto had just climbed and everywhere in between, long, square and squat; small, round and tall; every shape and size imaginable, and the colours! Most tents were shielded by long, blindingly-white tarps, but there were also swathes of night-sky blue, the orange of the setting sun, shimmering golden sand and blooms of bloody red breaking up the blank canvas, turning it into a greater piece of art than even the ones the boy had sometimes gazed at for hours when hiding out in the temple, back in Konoha.

And amongst all the colour, was a chaotic dance of people, drifting from one tent to another, children running and playing together and animals further away from the tents, grazing on the tiny specks of green that were completely lost in the beautiful pandemonium of everything else.

Naruto felt like he'd seen paradise and he couldn't wait to explore it.

* * *

He'd had a hard time resisting the urge to immediately run into the mass of tents and people, but he didn't want to get lost – he couldn't even imagine how hard it would be to find his family again amongst so many people – so he had stayed close to them as they skirted the edge of the congregation, looking for space to set up their own tents.

As they made their way, Naruto had smiled and waved at almost every person he'd seen, mostly he'd been given strange, distrusting looks back – probably because of his heritage, even after living in the desert for a few years and tanning almost as dark as those born to it, his facial features, bright, blue eyes and light hair still made him stick out like a sore thumb, in a family of dark-haired, dark-eyed people.

Some of the other children had waved back though, which made him happy; maybe he'd be able to make some new friends?

They finally settled at a point a fair distance from the other tribes, he stayed to help them set up camp as normal – though the Honoured Siblings' tent was much closer than they would normally place it, probably because going further away from the Sabaku would just place them closer to other, unknown tribes who might not respect their distaste for other people – despite his urgent desire to go and mingle.

" _Please_ can we go now?" he begged, nearly hanging off Ameno's sleeve, unable to sit around waiting a second longer while everyone's things were unpacked and sorted out.

The old woman sighed and gently extracted the boy's hands, "I can't leave until we've-"

"Please, please, _please_!"

"No, I must help to prepare our supper and I will not have you running off by yourself and getting lost or hurt." His mother gave him a warning look, cutting off the argument he was preparing to make. Naruto hung his head and turned around to help unpack, but a gentle hand on his shoulder and soft voice stopped him in his tracks.

"What if I go with him?" Yukata said, smiling down at the boy, before turning all of her sweet charm on the older woman, "I wanted to look at some of the markets anyway and trade for some spices."

Ameno gave the two a long, hard look; but no one could ever say 'no' to the young lady's calm and sincere smiles.

She shook her head slightly, but waved them off anyway. "Go then, but keep an eye on him! Don't let him say the wrong thing to the wrong people. Naruto, behave yourself, if I find out you got into any trouble then you won't be leaving the tent for the rest of our time here, understand?"

The blond grinned and nodded eagerly, rushing forwards to give her a brief hug, before turning back and grabbing Yukata's hand to pull her outside.

She giggled and strode to catch up – her exceedingly long legs quickly outpacing his – keeping a gentle hold of his hand.

"Thanks for helping me, I _really_ wanted to explore!" he said, inwardly willing the long distance between the Sabaku's tents and the bustling campsite to just disappear already. He couldn't wait to see the markets, tribes from all across the desert had gathered and would be trading their wares; there must be all sorts of interesting new things that he'd never seen before.

Yukata laughed again, it was gentle and sweet, like everything she did. "I could tell, you looked like you were going to burst apart if you didn't get to leave," she said, leading the way to the more colourful tents of the marketplace.

The young boy chuckled and felt his cheeks heating, but he didn't care, the beautiful lady at his side would never mock him for being embarrassed.

It didn't take long to reach their destination, the tall girl's long strides and short boy's restless energy carrying them quickly across the sand; when they finally got there, Naruto was even more amazed at the sights before him than he had been at his first glimpse of the city of Suna.

The afternoon was slowly shifting to evening, but the blazing sun was still high in the sky, that didn't matter though, because, hung between the many, many small tents that had been set up to display various tribes' goods, were long strips of cloth – thin enough that the sunlight could filter through, but still leave a blessedly cool shadow – in every colour imaginable, dappling the golden sand with shades of red and blue and green and purple and yellow. He watched the colours stain his hands and white robes as he passed beneath each canopy.

People milled about in the spaces between the tents, some obviously manning their shops – shouting advertisements of their wares and chattering with their customers – and others browsing the goods on display and fervently haggling for better prices.

But, what really intrigued him, was all the strange and beautiful fashions they wore. The Sabaku's clothes had been novel to him when he first found himself in their company; all the men wearing long, bright white robes that covered every inch of their skin, other than their heads, which were protected from the sun and wind by dark or coloured headdresses. The warriors would wear a sword and shield attached to their belt, and elder Sajo wore a highly decorated dagger almost every single day, but the men's traditional clothing was quite bland and purely practical.

The women dressed very differently; their robes were dark, almost black and were embroidered with neat – but minimal – patterns of red and yellow flowers and abstract shapes at the seams. Certainly more decorative than the men's clothing, but still made to be practical and durable, above all else.

But the people here were dressed like no one he'd ever seen before! Women wearing dresses made up of highly patterned stripes, sea-blue robes with sleeves that nearly dragged on the ground, bright red and orange panels contrasted against black, colourful, wide, striped pants that billowed with every step and silken tunics of deep purple, embellished with such detailed and bold embroidery that Naruto couldn't believe it had been created by human hands. Some wore amazing jewellery – dozens of metal discs strung together, belts and necklaces of beads, glass, wooden and metallic, golden rings and bracelets imbedded with glittering gemstones of every size and colour.

Even the men bore far more colour and pattern than the boy was used to, wearing deep blue robes so expansive, he was surprised they could even walk, thick, dark throbes with fine, golden stitching, faded red and orange kaftans that looked cool and comfortable, he even saw one man wearing a wide, shapeless cloak made out of wool; he didn't want to imagine how hot he must feel in the stifling afternoon air.

And he'd never imagined there could be so many ways of wearing a headscarf; loosely draped over the head and shoulders, wrapped tightly under the neck, curled into strange shapes atop the head, loose ends pulled up to cover the face. It was amazing to see the variety, there were quite a few women even wearing masks, some long, fabric drapes covering all but their eyes, others some kind of leather or stiffened silk, with only a band across the forehead and mouth and thin strap to connect them – Naruto couldn't help but think it looked almost like a bird's beak – and every kind could be plain and simple, or lavishly decorated with coins and embroidery.

However, there weren't as many people as he'd been expecting, "Where is everyone? I thought there'd be hundreds of people here."

"Well, it is the afternoon still, most are probably resting, I'm sure they'll come out in the evening when it's cooler," Yukata said, pulling him towards a stand that exuded a heady, overwhelming aroma.

As they drew closer, Naruto could see the racks of spices laid out on the carpeted floor, in round, shallow pans – powders in bright yellow, earthy brown and burnt red, bundles of herbs and bark wrapped neatly – as he leaned over them, he was suddenly hit with a wall of pungent scent; he flinched back and covered his nose, sneezing into his hands uncontrollably.

The man running the stall laughed hard, but his grin was more good-natured than scornful, so Naruto decided to let it pass – though, once he'd regained control of himself, he kept his sleeve over his face.

It didn't block out much of the smell, but it was better than nothing.

Yukata had already started chatting with the stranger like they'd known each other their whole lives, giggling at his jokes and asking about his wares.

Naruto wanted to groan and complain, but he didn't want to upset the older girl either, so he chose to stay standing and watch people as they went about their lives. It wasn't interesting for very long, when what he really wanted to do was to _mingle_ , look at everything being sold, talk to people and learn more about their tribes, maybe make some new friends!

But, until his minder was finished with whatever business she was conducting right now – and, judging by the way she'd settled down on a cushion and was apparently gossiping with the shopkeeper about something his wife had done, it was going to be a while yet – he couldn't leave.

With a sigh, he turned back to his people-watching, trying to see if he could pick out who might belong to the same tribes by their clothing, until a flash of red caught his eye.

His head snapped around so fast he could feel it click, but he was too focussed on the throng of people a few stalls down, he wished that they'd stay still long enough for him too-

There! He only glanced back at Yukata long enough to check she wasn't looking, then he slipped away towards the crowd; _what is_ he _doing here?_ Naruto thought, seeking the distinctive deep red tresses of the jinni he hadn't seen in over seven weeks, _he hates humans, why come to a marketplace crawling with them?_

He pushed through the press of bodies as he searched – the chaotic mess of colour he'd found so fascinating just a few minutes ago was now working against him, as he tried to find the right shade of red among dozens of imposters.

It didn't take long to find it, just a few feet in front of him – the loose, red curls half hidden behind the taller people that were _in the way!_

Suddenly, a hand wrapped tightly around his right arm, holding tight and pulling him back, away from Gaara, away from the throng of people; so distracted was he, that it wasn't until he had completely lost sight of his friend that the realisation of how much trouble he was in right now hit him.

He was being held captive by some stranger, who wanted to do Gods knew what to him and no one would ever know what happened to hi-

"Exactly _where_ do you think you were going, Naruto?"

Oh, that voice was familiar and surprisingly comforting, given its tone. The boy slowly turned around and looked up into Maki's glowering face. He had barely opened his mouth before she was tugging on his arm harshly and dragging him back through the market.

"Never mind, I don't need to hear your excuses," she said, dark eyes staring ahead and pace slowing as she noticed the blond stumbling along behind her.

He quickly found his feet again and walked beside her – not that he had much choice, with her strong hand still encircling his upper arm – pouting down at the ground. "You're not going to tell Ameno, are you?"

The warrior gave him a sharp look out of the corner of her eye and shook her head. "No, but _only_ because she would blame Yukata for not keeping an eye on you – I'm still going to see to it that you're punished properly."

Naruto scowled, but didn't push the matter, Maki wasn't one to be easily swayed.

Though he couldn't help but wonder what she was even doing out here, she'd been helping the tribe settle when he'd left with Yukata…

Oh, of course.

A wicked grin spread across his face. "So, why'd you follow us?" he asked sweetly, loving the way her footsteps faltered for a brief moment.

"I wasn't following you, I just happened to be nearby and saw you trying to cause trouble again." Maki's face was firm, but her voice had just a slight tremor to it.

"Really? I thought you were helping to build the fire pit?"

She coughed, he cheeks tinting pinker by the second. "We finished early."

Naruto made a doubting noise as his grin widened even further – he'd been told by Ittetsu, that when he smiled like that he looked eerily like a fox, especially with the fine whisker-like scars on his cheeks – he held his free hand to his chin in mock thought. "That's funny, I'm pretty sure you'd only just started when we left, we haven't been gone that long; I bet you came because you were worried about Yukata," he sang out the girl's name.

Maki was now blushing full-force, though her expression stayed admirably blank. "There are a lot of dangerous people in the world," she said, eyes resolutely staying fixed in front of her, even as her voice wavered terribly, "I was just… being cautious."

"Uh-huh, _sure_ you were. Why didn't you just ask to come with us if you were worried?" the boy asked.

The warrior frowned for a moment – face redder than he'd ever seen it – before tugging his arm harshly and walking faster to the subject of their conversation.

Naruto suddenly felt terrible for running off like that; Yukata looked like she was on the verge of tears, headscarf messy and nearly falling off her head, as she gently shook the arm of an old man, babbling words that were almost incoherent through her strained voice.

The man looked confused, but when he glanced around his eyes caught on Naruto and Maki, he raised a shaky hand and pointed towards them.

The young woman spun round so fast that her scarf actually fell off, floating to the ground as she charged at the boy and crashed to her knees in front of him; wrapping her long arms around him and snivelling into his chest. The blond awkwardly went to hug her back – absently noting that Maki had released his arm in favour of gathering Yukata's shawl and bringing it over to the younger girl, draping it carefully over her head.

Yukata lifted her watery gaze to stare up at the soldier, hurriedly wiping at her eyes as she jumped to her feet and turned to squeeze the shorter woman.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I was so scared I'd lost him forever, you're my mala'ikah, thank you so much Maki," she blubbered. Maki's short nod of acceptance had her pulling back to gingerly fix her shawl – the older woman looked disappointed, Naruto couldn't help but notice. "We should probably get back to the tribe, they'll be starting supper soon and I want to be able to use these," she said, with one last sniffle, picking up the pack of herbs and spices she had apparently dropped and marching back out of the market.

The boy followed after her, Maki fast on his heels. He was about to make a comment about the look on her face when Yukata had hugged her, but she pre-emptively cut him off.

"Say anything and you'll be sparring with no one but Pakura for the next month."

Naruto gulped – as good training as that would be, he didn't much feel like dying anytime soon.

It was only when they passed out of the strange, otherworldly marketplace of a million colours and scents, that he remembered why he'd run off in the first place.

He glanced back, but saw nothing to indicate that Gaara was there watching him. He frowned and hurried back to his family; they'd be here for a week, hopefully he'd be able to find the jinni again.

* * *

Blood, it always started with blood.

It dripped from the goat's neck, pooling around its body, turning its mottled brown wool dark and sticky. Naruto had felt sick the first few times he saw it, but this was an essential part of worship; fickle Gods, jinn and spirits would grant a tribe luck and safety, but there was always a price to be paid and that price was blood.

Not always the kind that flowed like a river from sliced vein, though.

Sometimes it was the kind that pumped through the heart like a drum as one worked to sow and harvest, or the blood of pricked and blistered fingers on beautiful and treasured textiles, or a gift of water – the lifeblood of the desert itself – poured onto the Baytu-Ilah of a wrathful jinni.

But in this case, it was indeed the thick, glistening crimson that stained the sand around the great stone. It was carefully being painted onto the Baytu-Ilah too, elder Ryusa dipping his hand into the pool and swiping it across the surface – worn smooth by centuries upon centuries of wind and sand – and muttering soft prayers for the wellbeing of their tribe, as the rest of the Sabaku raised their voices in a high, warbling melody.

* * *

They had all just settled down for dinner; the whole tribe gathered around a large campfire, surrounded by metal trays and clay bowls displaying their feast for the evening – they had been able to procure some meats and grains that they didn't find on their usual routes in the bustling markets – chattering and bickering and leaning past each other to spoon rice and stew and vegetables onto their plates.

Then, it happened.

Tsubusa had been the first to notice, his sharp eyes easily picking out the unusual movement in the distance, he had immediately jumped to his feet and scurried to kneel at elder Ryusa's side and whisper in his ear. Ryusa had then spoken to Pakura, Shira and Satetsu, who had all abandoned their half-eaten meals and disappeared into the tents, when they re-emerged, they were all armed to the teeth and moving to form an intimidating perimeter around the camp.

By that point, everyone had noticed and a sharp knife of tension had cut the air in two, a whispering panic quickly spreading through the tribe.

"Everyone stay calm," Ryusa said firmly, "there is no need to fear those who will only face us under a sacred peace." He didn't stand, just kept taking small, calm sips of his tea as he stared down the group approaching the camp.

Naruto wasn't sure what to do, he wanted to get up and stand with the other warriors, but he couldn't deny the thrill of fear running down his spine. Ameno was holding him tightly to her side and it was only because he was so close to her, that he could feel her entire body trembling – though her face was as tranquil and unyielding as ever – he carefully grasped one of her shaking hands in his, giving what little comfort he could when he was just as scared himself.

The way the figures appeared almost reminded him of Gaara; at first they were little more than dark, indistinct silhouettes against the distant lights of the campsite surrounding Suna, but as they stepped into the circle that the dim, flickering light of their campfire illuminated, their bodies seemed to melt into view, the fire embracing them like an old friend.

Five people, three men and two women, came to a halt before them. The woman in the middle was standing ahead of the others – she was probably the designated leader of the group – not young, but not old either, perhaps forty years. Her face was calm, kind even, and incredibly beautiful, she was all midnight blues and deep, warm browns, garbed in a stunningly embroidered gown that looked like it alone was probably worth more alone, than all the belongings of the Sabaku tribe put together.

On either side of her were two men, both old and wizened, they didn't look dissimilar to elders Ryusa or Sajo; one in red, looking calm and wise, the other in blue, whose sneering eyes reminded Naruto of some of the gazes that had been directed at him when he had first joined the tribe, distrustful and waiting for a single moment of weakness to pounce on.

The other two in the group of interlopers were both young, the man grinning a wide, toothy grin that was deeply unnerving and the woman, with a tiny smile that was more cruel than happy on her pretty, doll-like face.

"Saya!" The call had every eye in the camp turning to the one who made it – Sana, who had already risen to her feet and was rushing over to the strangers, arms raised as she stood before the youngest woman.

She did not return the hug offered to her.

"Little sister," she said dully and now that the two women were standing next to each other, Naruto was shocked he hadn't noticed the familial resemblance earlier, they nearly looked like twins. "I'm shocked, two years among these philistines and you've forgotten the manners that were so graciously taught you?"

Sana gave her sister a pained look and quickly backed away, giving a low bow to the strangers. "My apologies for my behaviour; it has just been so long since I last saw my beloved sister, my emotions overcame me, please, forgive my impertinence," she whispered, rushing back to her seat beside her husband and studiously keeping her gaze on her knees. The blond boy was shocked at how meekly she was acting, she'd always been so aloof and rude to the rest of the Sabaku.

The other strange woman spoke next, with a kindly smile directed at Sana, "There is no need to apologise, such fondness for one's family is an admirable trait."

Her gaze turned to Ryusa – who hadn't looked away from her since she entered the camp – he stood calmly and bowed to the strangers. "I welcome you to my tent, our hospitality is yours," he said, sitting back down and gesturing to the feast, "it is rare to have such esteemed company, so many noble leaders of powerful tribes, and the Sheik of Sunagakure herself, we would be honoured if you were to join us in our evening meal."

His words and tone were exceedingly polite, but cold; Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing the real meaning of what had been said.

"Gladly, I hear it has been a long while since you last entertained guests, it's impressive that you have not forgotten the conventions," the dark-haired woman said, gracefully settling down directly opposite the old man, casually brushing the creases out of her dress.

Ryusa didn't seem to take any offense at the subtle jab, he just took up his plate and resumed eating, only stopping to say, "Our migration routes do not cross other's paths, Hakuto, there is little opportunity for entertaining, though we still ensure that the proper ways are passed down – we have not forgotten the lessons of our proud ancestors."

The other tribal leaders all moved to sit around the campfire in whatever space was free, when the young man with the scary eyes and unceasing grin dropped heavily right next to him, Naruto pulled his head covering as far down as he could and shuffled even closer into Ameno's side, biting his lip so as not to whimper out loud.

The woman named Hakuto smiled and casually took up a plate and filled it with rice and vegetables. "Ah yes, of course and how _are_ those migration routes fairing you? Not many take to the wastes you travel, I do hope your tribe is able to sustain itself," she said.

Her voice was calm and words almost painfully gracious, but despite that, Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that there was a second conversation going on, one far more dangerous and important and, worst of all, he couldn't tell who was winning.

"Our people are resourceful, what others may overlook, we are happy to embrace."

The utter silence from everyone else around the fire just enhanced the tension buzzing in the air, like a thousand wasps were all hovering, waiting to strike. Hakuto smiled kindly. "Indeed, that is truly an honourable ideal to live by, though some might say that you have little choice but to be… embracing, given your circumstances."

"We have weathered harder trials; we will survive these times too." The old man's furrowed brows were the only indication that he was angry, but he had always been reserved, for him to show such visible signs of emotion was a clear warning that he was close to snapping.

The beautiful woman must have known that too, for her smile widened and she chuckled softly, "I am glad to hear it, it would be a true shame for such a once-famous and powerful tribe to disintegrate into obscurity," she said, tearing off a delicate bite of her fatir and popping it in her mouth, letting out a delighted sigh at the taste.

Whatever spell had been cast over the camp broke then, everyone else warily took up their plates and continued their meal, murmured conversation starting up again and every member of the Sabaku sending glances to the interlopers – nervous, angry, guarded.

Though the stand-off had ended, the atmosphere was nowhere near comfortable; food was eaten stiffly and there was no familial teasing, none of Komushi's childish laughing at his own jokes, no bickering between Mujin and Sen, Abiru wasn't telling one of his, admittedly rather engaging, poems, even Yome – the toddler who had only recently discovered the joys of explaining to anyone and everyone everything that she had been doing that day in her broken, but endearing, speech – seemed to sense the tension, keeping unusually quiet as she clung to her mother's robe.

Sana only barely noticed enough to hold her infant in comfort, her gaze kept fluttering back to her sister a few spots down. If she'd noticed, she hadn't mentioned it, too busy making snide comments about everything; the food, the fire, the company, the clothing, nothing was good enough.

But, at least she was open in her distaste, the others seemed only to speak in veiled insults and implied threats.

The blond tentatively started eating again, but the first bite lodged horribly in his throat; unable to swallow and too scared to cough it back up and draw attention, he tried vainly to force it down, his body convulsing with each pained second that he couldn't breathe, his hand clasped firmly over his mouth to keep the choking noises in.

It didn't work; Ameno started gently patting his back, to try and clear his throat, but the action only made him cough aloud.

Bright, golden eyes suddenly appeared in front of his face, as the man sitting next to him bent to look at him, "Sounds like you're having some trouble there kid, need a hand?" He didn't wait for a response, giving the boy a hard thump to his back, it was painful, but it did seem to clear the blockage and Naruto was suddenly able to breathe again – though it was still uncomfortable and his eyes were watering terribly – he gave a few more gasping coughs to catch his breath.

The man cackled and gave his back another smack. "There ya go, careful not to send yourself to an early grave boy," his unnerving grin was suddenly filling the blond's view again, barely a few inches away, "that's my job," he whispered, voice dropping low and wide eyes sparkling with mirth.

Naruto squeaked and leaned back as far as he could, so far that he fell over. The stranger stayed in his bent position for a few seconds more before straightening and pulling him back up, once he was stable the man ruffled the scarf covering his messy blond locks until it was half falling off, laughing heartily all the while.

"Say, old man!" he called; the five men who could be considered to be old all turned to him with nearly identical frowns on their faces. "You didn't tell anyone you had a stray join your tribe, where'd you pick him up?"

All of the strangers fixed their gazes upon him then – particularly the bright, blond hair peeking out from his messed-up scarf and the sky-blue eyes that were still watering just a little – he wanted to shrink under their combined weight, but the scary man's hand was still on his back, holding him firmly in place.

One of the old men who'd stayed rather quiet up until now spoke, "You've taken in a foreigner? You really think that wise?"

Ryusa took a slow sip of his tea, probably stalling for time while he thought of a response.

But he didn't get to make one, Ameno pointedly pulled her son towards her and sent a hard stare to the stranger. "Yes, he was abandoned and half-dead when we found him, it was only right that we nurse him back to health."

The other old man snorted and glared right back. "Do you waste your resources nursing every wretched animal on the brink of death that you come across?"

His mother's eyes sharpened dangerously and Naruto could feel her nails starting to dig into his skin from how hard she was gripping him. Her voice was clipped and quiet, but in the silence that had once again spread over the camp, it was as clear as a bell in the night, "A _child_ is no animal, Jōseki; we might not have the numbers, or power that we once had, but we still have our compassion and humanity, which is more than I can say f-"

"Enough!" the stranger in red bellowed, "If you have _any_ wisdom, woman, you'll not utter another word."

Ryusa calmly put down his earthen cup with a delicate clink that shattered the stand-off. "My apologies, if what my kin said has offended, I am sure she simply wishes to understand what any of you would have done in the same situation," he said, looking to each of the intruders in turn.

The two old men – Jōseki and Gōza – both exchanged a glance before settling back into their seats, Sana's cruel sister had the grace to look just a little ashamed, the young man – who had finally released his hold on Naruto once Ameno started speaking – was just giving the same grin that he had been all night, apparently thoroughly amused by everything happening around him.

Hakuto smiled and nodded to the Sabaku leader agreeably. "Well said, you always did have a way with words," her smile grew wicked for a brief second as she stared up at Ryusa from under her brows, "to leave a child to die, all alone in the harsh desert… it would truly be the act of a monster."

Something in the air changed at that comment; the strangers all gave variations on a smile, while the adult Sabaku all stared fixedly at the ground, fists clenched and shoulders shaking visibly.

"So happy we should all be, then, that no one here would ever lower themselves to such atrocities. Well," her tone shifted, becoming dark and threatening as she violently tore off another piece of her bread, "no one alive at least."

The only sounds were the bleating of goats, the distant commotion of the far-off campsite and the fire, each crack sending another jolt down the spines of everyone present.

"I actually find it all rather amusing," she continued, smile back on her face and casually picking at what was left of her meal, "that you seem to take such a hard stance on the protection of unfortunate youth, when it was only a few generations ago that your people would slaughter entire tribes for sport, tie rocks to the wrists and ankles of dissenters, rivals, anyone you perceived as a threat – men, women and, yes, even children – and leave them on the burning sands to die of heat, or thirst, or wild animals looking for an easy meal; whichever came first."

Naruto's eyes widened in horror. That wasn't true, that _couldn't_ be true, these people were his family, they were warm and kind and had given him a home when no one else would. "What? No, that's not true! You shouldn't make up mean lies like that!" It _had_ to be a lie, he remembered Ryusa's grand tales of the tribe's great and noble ancestors, of a people who had ruled the desert, wisely and justly, there was no way…

His head snapped round to look up at Ameno, who was nearly on the brink of tears and avoided his gaze completely. He then looked to Ittetsu, Shira, Mujin, Ryusa; anyone who could look him in the eyes and tell him it wasn't true.

But no one would. The other children all looked just as scared and confused as he felt and the adults refused to look up at him, all but confirming the truth. Naruto felt sick.

Hakuto hushed him softly, "Do not worry yourself child, I do not blame those members of your tribe alive today for the sins of their forefathers – even the eldest among you were but children themselves at the time! – however, we all must bear the weight of our ancestors actions, must we not?" she asked, her calm, kind smile fixed solely on Ryusa, whose visible shaking was starting to scare the blond boy.

He took a deep breath and raised his head slowly; his expression no longer that of the composed, but warm, grandfatherly figure, that had for so long now been a comforting presence, now it was hard and wrathful.

"I will not deny or condone the actions of our ancestors – those _few_ who tarnished the name Sabaku – nor can I ever make right what wrongs have been inflicted upon yours, however, I can no longer abide these circuitous ways of yours, if you have something to say, then say it. Let me hear your piece and then send you on your way."

The woman's smile didn't falter, in fact it almost became more… genuine. "Very well, I have not come to declare war, as I am sure you suspect; but to warn you."

Ryusa's brows lowered in suspicion. "Warn us of what?"

She carefully finished off the last of the food on her plate, setting it down beside her, then stood in one fluid motion. "That, while I am far more forgiving than you deserve, other tribes are less inclined to practise such mercy," she gestured to the other Sheikhs sitting among them, glaring darkly, or grinning disturbingly, "they will not attack you while the pilgrimage ceasefire holds, I shall see to that personally, but I would suggest you leave early, if you don't want to meet a bloody end, one far quicker than anything your people would have used against us in the past."

Inky black robes swished softly, as she gave a deep bow to the Sabaku, "Thank you, for your hospitality and the meal, it was delicious," she said, giving them all one last smile, then she turned around and started to walk away.

The other leaders all made to follow her, but just as Naruto was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a hand landed heavily on his head. The man with the golden eyes grinned down at him, his eyes wide and wild and boring into his terrified blue ones.

His snicker was quickly cut off by a sharp voice, " _Datsuji_ , that is quite enough, leave the poor boy be."

Hakuto's shockingly dangerous glare was enough to make the disturbed man release his hold of the blond's head, though he did it in an exaggerated, almost sarcastic, way and he quickly moved after his peers.

She gave Naruto one last apologetic look, before she disappeared into the night, taking her interlopers with her.

* * *

He'd not finished his dinner that night, nor had he slept.

Not for lack of trying, he'd stayed frozen in his place from the second the strangers had left until wary conversation among the tribe had started back up; a hushed, yet intense, discussion about whether or not they would heed the warning. Ameno quickly got into a heated argument with Sajo, who was suggesting that the humiliation of running, would not be worth the only semi-assured safety.

Naruto had had to leave shortly after – the few bites he'd managed to force down his throat felt like he was swallowing sand and the rice settled heavily in his stomach like lead – and lay alone in the tent to try and get an early night. But no sleep came, he'd just lay on the rough blanket with his eyes wide open and terrifying thoughts buzzing in his head, _they lied to me, they're awful, they're going to hurt me too-_

 _You deserve to be with monsters like them._

The boy whimpered and clutched at his hair, letting the slight pain pull him back to his senses. Hakuto had said that none of his family – the people he'd spent three years living with, laughing with, loving with all his heart– none of them had personally been involved, it was just their ancestors. They hadn't lied, exactly, more like… omitted the truth. They had drawn grand pictures of their past in the sand and brushed away the mistakes to make the picture more appealing; surely that wasn't so bad, no one liked to point out their own flaws, after all.

But, this was more than covering up little mistakes to make yourself look better, this was hiding murder, _torture_ , how could he trust people who'd probably been raised by the ones responsible? How could he trust that they wouldn't return to those ways, that he wouldn't one day become a target?

The whole thing might've been easier to take if they'd been open about it before, but the way they'd hidden their past actions, it just seemed to make them all the more guilty, in some indescribable way.

A hand landed on his back – golden eyes flashed across his mind – he cried out and scurried away from it, huddling in the corner of the tent panting and waiting for his vision to focus. Ameno gave him a heart-wrenching look, as she lowered her hand to her lap and stared down at it, fisting the dark material of her robe tightly.

His eyes kept darting around the tent and his heart racing as though the man, Datsuji, would jump out to grab him again-

"Naruto, I'm… sorry," she whispered, not once looking up at him, "you were never supposed- no, _I_ never wanted you to find out, I didn't want you to know that side of our history- I-I am _so_ sorry my ch-child," her words became too distorted by choked sobs to make out any more of what she was trying to say.

How… how could he be so _stupid_ , this woman… his mother, she was his _mother_ , not some stranger, not a dangerous murderer who was going to leave him lost, alone, in the desert; she wasn't Mizuki, she was the kind old lady who'd taken him in when he'd been abandoned by everyone else, the one who'd fitted him clothes out of her old rags, the one who'd taught him how to walk on sand, to spot a scorpion den. She was the one who'd laugh at his jokes, tend to his bruises, cry when he was in danger, sing when he couldn't sleep…

Shaken out of his stupor, he shuffled forwards, until he was kneeling directly in front of her, the old woman's shoulders shaking and her wrinkled old hands rubbing at her eyes and nose.

He gently reached forwards and pulled her hands away from her face and, once she was finally looking at him with her cheeks wet and eyes red, he threw his arms around her, sniffling into her neck. She cried even harder and embraced him back with enough force to make his bones creak, but he didn't care, just held on to her just as tight and let her scarf absorb most of his own tears.

By the time they pulled apart, they had managed to calm down some, when Ameno saw his damp cheeks and puffy face she softly wiped his tears away with the end of her sleeve.

Naruto gave her a watery smile and then returned the favour, careful to keep his touch light and gentle. She let out a tired chuckle and bent her head to help him, "So mature… You're growing up too fast, how am I ever going to keep up?" she asked, mostly to herself judging from the distant look on her face.

He slowly drew his hand back once her face was dry and gave her a confused look. "You won't have to; I'll just carry you with me."

She laughed genuinely at that, "I don't think you're quite big enough for that yet, but thank you, for thinking of a poor, doddery, old lady like me," she said, pulling him back into her lap.

The boy grinned up and her, letting himself be rocked as she hummed one of her favourite lullabies.

He wished he could've fallen asleep like this, wrapped in the warm, soft arms of his mother and feeling her voice reverberating through his chest, but he couldn't drift off the way he normally would. His mind was still reeling from the revelation at dinner, it was as if his entire existence had been tilted and he was struggling to find his balance in this strange, sideways world.

"So… Are we leaving?"

The humming stopped instantly and he felt Ameno's body stiffen. "Yes, soon; that proud fool Sajo might hold his honour above the lives of our people, but he has been overruled on this occasion. We will be staying for one more day, then we will leave," she said, her voice soft and sad.

Naruto nodded, fiddling with the ends of his sleeves as he thought of the best way to broach his next question, "And, the things she said, they're-"

"True," she said immediately, "as much as I wish it wasn't so."

"Why would we do those things?"

She sighed and pulled him in tighter. "Those were… different times. Harder times. Our Sheik then was not a kind man – most considered him to be mad, or _driven_ mad in his search for power – our rule of the other tribes in the region was faltering and we did not have the strength to truly hold onto our control, he did awful things to try as assert his dominance, but in the end… that was what ended him."

He tilted his head back to look up at her questioningly.

Ameno shook her head, "The other tribes joined against us and the resulting war cost us our power, our wealth and our people, they took our lands and we were forced to flee. There are rumours that he continued his cruelty on our own people, though those who told them are long dead and most of us would rather not dwell on that terrible age."

"Oh, so _you_ didn't…"

"Never, this was before my time, the only ones who were alive, were elder Ryusa and the Honoured Siblings, Ryusa was only a child though – younger than you when you first came to us – and the Siblings… Well, honestly I do not know much about their stories, but, I suspect there is a reason they keep themselves separate from us, why they seem so unwilling to trust."

The boy hummed in understanding and lowered his head again, mulling over the words spoken to him. It was still hard to accept that the people he loved so much could ever have been anything but perfect, but…

This was right, this was where he belonged, with his mother, with his family, even if they had made mistakes. It was something their ancestors did, not them personally and, besides, he wasn't any different, he'd once been little more than a thief, a scoundrel; stealing bread and pulling nasty tricks and wreaking havoc. They were willing to accept the sins he'd actually committed; he could accept the sins they carried unwillingly.

Though he still didn't manage to get any sleep that night, even after everyone else had come in to get ready for bed and Ameno had tucked him in. He'd just laid awake, listening to the long-forgotten screams of agony floating in on the wind and seeing flashes of gold in every glint of light.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he watched the goats running off; this was the third time today that he'd had to chase after them and they were being even more disobedient than usual, no matter how many times he called to them or clicked his tongue, they just kept bounding off at every slightly-loud clang of pots banging together, or bark of laughter, or sign of a particularly succulent-looking bush.

And, to make matters worse, they didn't all dart off together in one large group, instead they were scattering in all directions, him, Ittetsu, Mujin and Sen all had to split up to try and herd them back.

When he saw the tell-tale specks of white, brown and black dart behind a towering rock formation, he sped his footsteps, hoping that they'd found a plant to graze on – at least then he might be able to make up some distance.

At least all the running was warming him up, the night sky was starting to shift from star-dotted, deep blue to a hazy purple – indicating that the burning heat of morning wasn't far off – but the air was still frigid and stung bitterly at his exposed skin and his breath clouded in front of him with every exhale. He'd be glad when the light came, it'd make finding the caravan again a much easier task; just as soon as he'd wrangled the goats.

The bleats and meeh's of his prey were becoming louder as he hurried to the huge rock, _finally_ , he thought; turning the corner so fast he didn't have time to stop running straight into an unexpected jut of stone.

He hissed and clutched at his forehead, immediately regretting it when it made the spot of tenderness swell into a throbbing ache.

Looking up, so he could glare at the boulder that had dared to be in his way, he was surprised to see the rock glaring back. Slowly, his vison stopped swimming until he could make out enough details in the dark and identify the shape not as stone, but as a person. Well, perhaps person was the wrong word.

"Gaara?" he asked, pushing himself to his wobbly feet.

The jinni didn't reply – no surprises there – but he did turn around and point to a strange dome of sand; glancing at the redhead for an answer, Naruto shakily wandered over to it, only once he was a few feet away did he notice the sounds coming from inside it. Coming to stand next to him, the spirit raised a hand and the sand at the top of the pen peeled back, revealing the five goats happily chewing on some scrub inside.

Naruto grinned and turned back to his friend, whose face was just as blank as always, but his eyes seemed to be shining with something he'd not seen in them before.

"Thanks! I've been chasing them for hours, it was really nice of you to catch them for me," he said, tone casual, but he was watching Gaara's eyes closely and took joy in that new expression strengthening in them, he was, well, probably not happy – the jinni seemed incapable of that emotion – but he seemed to be pleased, or maybe proud?

Either way, it was the most positive emotion the boy had ever seen him express, which made him grin even wider.

He glanced back at the runaways; they were all calm, despite being trapped in a prison of sand by a dangerous spirit, but that was probably just because of the tasty looking feed placed in front of them – a plant that didn't grow in this part of the desert, the blond noted – feed which they didn't look like they were going to abandon any time soon, not without a fight. Naruto sighed and sat down, leaning his back against the sandy wall and looking up at the redhead standing next to him.

"They're gonna make a fuss if I don't let them finish, so, do you want to talk for a little while? I haven't seen you in months, not since I…" he trailed off, uncertain if mentioning the way he'd accidentally scared off the jinni would only make him disappear again.

But it didn't, after only a few seconds of deliberation, Gaara slid down beside him, closing his eyes in his usual silent invitation for Naruto to start talking.

The boy let out a sigh of relief and launched into an account of the wild ups and downs of the pilgrimage.


	6. The Long Walk

Well I am just awful at this aren't I

I know I know, sorry it's been such a ridiculous wait for this chap, if it's any consolation it's been having a right old jolly time kicking my arse, it was actually gonna be about five scenes longer but it was getting long enough already and I've kept you waiting for so long so I've basically cut the chap in half, which given the theme of the chap might actually be better in the long run

Special thank you shout out to my wonderful writing alpha spell, who helped me out with the decision and who proofread the whole thing, so you now get an earlier chap, with 60% fewer typos to boot! (for real though dear you are a lifESAVER ThANK YOU)

You'd think that experience would teach me not to make predictions of when I'll update, but the next chap will likely be a shorter one (and I've already got the plan so that'll cut the time down somewhat) so maybe I'll get it up in _less_ than four months, maybe

Enjoy!

Glossary –

Miswak: A tool used for cleaning teeth throughout much of history and still in use in many areas of the Middle East, Asia and Africa, cut from the roots/branches of a tree with some bark cut away to reveal the brush-like fibres inside, certain trees have natural antibacterial chemicals and fluoride, so it's very hygienic.

* * *

The sun bore down heavily; it was still only a little after noon and while the worst of the day's heat had passed, it was by no means easy to bear.

Naruto huffed as his uncooperative fingers struggled to tie off the last knot, rope growing damp with his sweat the longer he worked it and the old nanny goat that adamantly refused to stay still wasn't helping matters at all.

Finally, he managed to get the end through the loop and quickly pulled it tight – trying his best to ignore the deafening bleats directly in his ear – with the leash tied, he let her go, she didn't get far before the rope attaching her to another goat stopped her in her tracks. Naruto gave the rope a quick tug to test it's hold and, when satisfied that it wouldn't come loose or hurt it's captive, turned his attention to the rest of the kids working the same task.

No one was quite sure what had happened to make the herd so jumpy and disobedient lately, but after three days of them scattering at the slightest noise and slowing their entire caravan, Sen had decided that it would be best to just tie them all together.

The goats didn't like it and normally they'd let them run free, but the tribe couldn't afford to lose any more travel time; they were already running low on water.

"How many are tied now?" he asked, unable to count the entire herd when they refused to stay still.

Matsuri immediately piped up, "Sixteen."

Not even half way. He grabbed hold of a trailing end and eyed the buck Ittetsu was chasing back in his direction – only barely managing to not be knocked off his feet when its head collided with his stomach – he was already winding the rope around its neck when his friend caught up and helped to hold it in place as he worked on the knot.

"You alright?" Ittetsu asked, giving his friend a worried look. The blond nodded sharply as he struggled to find the right balance between too tight and too loose.

The older boy laughed breathlessly, as he shot a hand out to stop a horn from gouging a decently sized chunk out of Naruto's arm. "Just think of how much easier it'll be to guide them when this is all done!"

He managed a short chuckle, letting the last loop be pulled taught, before nodding and releasing his hold on the prisoner; Ittetsu was pulled after it as it went to charge for freedom, landing in a cloud of dust.

"You alright?" he asked, grabbing the hand waved in his general direction and helping him up.

Ittetsu spat out a mouthful of sand, but was still grinning wide. "Never better, c'mon, I'll send another your way."

He nodded and watched his friend run off once more, he was starting to regret volunteering to do the rowdier ones, the other kids were having a much easier time keeping the oldest and youngest goats calm.

At least the one running towards him now was the last of the trouble-makers.

After making sure the last rein was secure, he and Ittetsu wandered closer to the others, he took the rope offered by Matsuri and sat down to tie his end around a kid who'd already exhausted itself earlier, while she looped her own end to its mother.

"Twenty-one," she muttered to him.

Not many more to go, thank the gods, he nodded and listened in on the conversation between the others, both of whom were complaining about the chore.

"I don't see why we have to do this, we never used to tie them up!" Sari's whining was only to be expected; she'd always preferred naps to hard work and, even though she _would_ get down and do it with enough prodding, she always made sure her disdain was widely announced.

Abiru snorted as he bodily dragged a goat towards himself. "Well, if our herdsmen weren't so incompetent then we wouldn't have to, would we?"

The blond was about to stand up and charge over to him, when Ittetsu dropped down next to the eldest boy and shook his shoulders wildly, tears already building in his eyes. "You don't mean that, do you? We try really hard, we really do, sometimes they just get like this, you know? We're trying to get better I promise-"

Being simultaneously shaken by the younger boy and clambered on by the goat desperately attempting to escape his unsteady grip, Abiru quickly ended up on his back, two heavy weights knocking all the breath out of him.

Naruto didn't feel at all guilty of the tiny smile creeping across his face.

"Yes, yes, I've got it, I was _joking_ , get off me already and don't start blubbering, you'll waste water," he groaned, pushing Ittetsu away with one hand as he hooked his other around his captive's belly and hauled himself back up. "You're a fine herd, just, don't start crying, alright?"

Ittetsu wiped his face with his sleeve and revealed a wide grin when he finally dropped it. "Aw, you really do care, don't you? Don't worry, we all know the 'insensitive stoic' thing is just an act."

His mouth opened, then shut, then opened again, before he finally huffed and turned back to the goat wriggling in his hold; looping a rope around its neck and studiously ignoring the laughter being directed at his reddening face.

The giggles died down as everyone got back to work, but there was still something heavy lingering in the air, weighing them all down.

Eventually, Sari's chatter turned back to the reason they were even doing this frustrating task to begin with. "So, how come the goats have been so troublesome lately, anyway? You guys must have some idea, right?" she asked, glancing between Ittetsu and Naruto.

They gave each other an anxious look; neither really _knew_ what was going on, but Naruto had the sneaking feeling that they both _suspected_ the same thing, and the longer the silence stretched on, the more the others slowed in their work, until everyone was leaning in closer and giving the pair expectant, hungry, looks.

"Well…" Naruto trailed off as every eye snapped towards him, he wilted slightly under their combined gaze, but a subtle nod from his best friend gave him the confidence to clear his throat and carry on, "Ever since that last night of the pilgrimage, what we found out about our past…"

When he found himself unsure how to continue, Ittetsu jumped in for him. "Things have been tense at camp, the goats are probably picking up on that." His voice was unusually subdued.

No one looked all that surprised at the answer, in fact there was almost a sense of relief washing off of the gathered children and teenagers, as though they could all feel more at ease in knowing that they weren't the only one disturbed by the revelations of that traumatic night.

It still hadn't been discussed – other than some quiet, private debates between the grown-ups when all the children were supposed to be sleeping – and the weight of it had been gradually, but noticeably, smothering the warm, comforting feeling of familiarity between the entire tribe, until only a cold distrust and uncertainty was left.

There were a few quiet mumbles and nods of agreement from the group, even as they glanced warily over their shoulders to look out for anyone showing up from around a tent to scold them all for discussing the unstated taboo.

"So…" Sari began quietly – or as quiet as she ever got, at least, "do you think it's really true?"

Abiru snorted immediately. "Of course it is, if it wasn't then grandfather would've denied it immediately."

"But, maybe that's not the whole truth?" she said, hands fiddling anxiously with the rope in her grip, "I mean, there could've been parts of it that that lady made up to make us look bad, or maybe he just didn't want to say anything to start a fight-"

Naruto coughed, a pained look flashing across his face as her cut his friend off, "Actually… Abiru's right, mother told me it was all true."

Her face fell even further as she glanced around for someone to contradict him, but everyone else just nodded silently. Ittetsu shuffled over to her side and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tightly, as he always did when someone was troubled, though Sari leaned into him, she didn't look any less distressed.

"I don't see what's got you all so upset." Abiru's voice was hard, but he kept his head firmly down and went about tying up another goat. "So what if our ancestors killed a lot of people? They deserved it."

Naruto felt sick. "You think they _deserved_ to be tortured? Even the kids?"

The older boy growled, leaping to his feet and glaring down at him – he had never seen him so genuinely enraged before. "You don't get it! I don't know what it's like where you're from, but things aren't that simple here, there's no place for mercy in the desert, the other tribes don't show mercy, the bandits and slavers don't show mercy, the _land itself_ doesn't show mercy; if you're soft, you die and no one will care to remember your name."

Naruto shrunk back slightly. Maybe he did have a point, but even so, "That still doesn't make it right, maybe… maybe some people needed to die, to keep us safe, but there must've been a kinder way-"

"You think the other tribes are any different? They'd kill us all in a heartbeat – in the most horrific ways – if we didn't keep so far away from them! The only reason they feel any moral high ground right now is because any attacks against us would just be retaliation, _revenge_ for their ancestors! We're only cast as the villains because we struck fir-"

"Twenty-eight."

Everyone's gaze snapped to Matsuri, carefully testing the hold of a knot, steadfastly carrying on with her job, an unfamiliar frown narrowing her eyes.

The two boys glanced uncertainly between her and each other, Naruto wasn't sure he wanted to stop arguing – knowing that someone in his tribe had such thoughts made him deeply uncomfortable – but Abiru wasn't a bad person _really_ , if he could just explain…

A shout quickly cut off his thoughts, the children all turned to see Sen rushing towards them, waving her arms wildly and shoving her way through the throng of goats.

"Hurry, _hurry_ , we need to leave now," she said, her voice wavering between high and low pitch.

Matsuri ran over to her, hands reaching to calm her down, but she was quickly pulled into a hug so tight that Naruto could hear the air being pushed from her lungs. "Mother?" she asked, breathlessly.

"Enemies are coming."

* * *

The night was too quiet.

It had been quiet for two days now. He missed the chatter of his family, the poems and chants they would sing to keep everyone awake and moving, the laughter of his friends as they struggled to keep the herd under control.

No one had spoken for hours. There was only the rhythmic trudge of feet against sand, the hissing of fabric, the chorus of exhausted pants; breath clouding in the bitter air.

A sudden screech, distant, far behind them, he had to resist the urge to spin round and face it.

It was just an owl. Or a fennec, just a fennec fox.

He couldn't look though, because if he looked then he might see. And if he saw, he didn't know if he'd be able to carry on.

How far were they now? Had they managed to run far enough, run fast enough, or had their stalkers made up the distance, if he turned back, would he see an empty plain, or would he see the harbingers of death reaching out with claws of steel?

The night was too quiet.

How long would they carry on like this? They were a flock, large and disordered and cumbersome, only as fast as their slowest members, the elderly with their creaking bones and the youngest with their tiny legs, the entire tribe fleeing from a threat they could never outrun, not when their pursuers had horses, fast and strong and enduring, only the unstable, shifting dunes to slow them down.

He could never have guessed how terrifying it was, to face such an enemy, one that sacred even the bravest of warriors, enough that they didn't want to stand and fight, enough that they had to take every chance to hide their presence; travel hidden behind towering rock formations and dunes, keep utterly silent, drape themselves in sand-coloured tarps so that they more easily blended into the environment, walk far enough apart that they didn't appear as a large, noticeable mass, but not so far apart that anyone got lost.

Their only real advantage was a fair distance's head start and a deeper knowledge of the area and its distinct landscape.

He wondered how long they would keep moving, it was going to be dawn soon – the sky was already lightening – and no one had declared it safe to stop and rest yet, not even to check on their stalkers.

The night was too quiet.

* * *

He peered carefully around a rock; this part of the desert was difficult to hide in, the ground was flat and cracked and you could see to the very edges of the basin, where clay turned to rough sand, with only a few low rock formations to break up the expanse.

It was because of that, that the tribe had stopped here, while they likely wouldn't stay hidden for very long, they had set up a hasty camp behind a particularly wide boulder that kept them sheltered and Tsubusa had taken up position crouched atop it, his keen eyes would pick out their enemy long before they themselves were spotted.

Naruto wasn't looking for them right now though.

Once everyone had settled to sleep off three days' worth of tension and constant, paranoid fear, he had quietly slipped off a direction that wasn't being watched, until he was far enough away from the tribe that he wouldn't be seen or heard, so long as he kept quiet and didn't wander too far from the stone shielding him from view.

Even so, there was still a thrill running through his entire body. Part nerves of being spotted, part the lingering terror that at any moment a horde of demonic warriors were going to materialise and cut him down.

And part… excitement, the feeling he always got when sneaking away from his family just to spend a few short minutes with _him_.

Though there was no way of ever knowing if Gaara would show up and many times he had been left waiting, alone, on the chance that the capricious jinni might deign to grant him a moment of his time. He had no reason to believe that today would be one of those times and being away from his loved ones was an inexcusably foolish decision at a time like this.

But, he couldn't help it, he wanted to see him, he needed something familiar and comforting to cling to.

Right now, he just had to believe that there was someone, some _thing_ looking out for them.

What else could they hope for?

He just wished he had a more reliable method of reaching the spirit, he couldn't wait for very long, he was exhausted and would need at least a little sleep before they set off again, or he wouldn't be able to withstand another night of unbroken travel and if Gaara didn't show up soon…

Naruto felt his eyes burning again.

He clamped them tightly shut, as though it would stop the tears before they formed, but all it did was make the water building along his lids gather and drip down to his chin.

Before he could reach out a hand to collect them, however, he felt someone else beat him to it. His eyes shot open and he didn't even need his vision to clear fully before he knew who it was, even blurred beyond recognition, that shade of red was unmistakable.

"Ga-" he abruptly cut off his shout and lowered his voice, though he couldn't quite shake the sniffs and cracks from his earlier crying, "-Gaara, you're here?"

The jinni didn't bother answering him – he rarely did when the answer to a question was obvious – his pale eyes fixed on his glistening fingers, as though he'd never seen tears before. Naruto felt a strange chill at knowing that Gaara had actually _touched_ him, willingly, of his own accord and wondered if the phantom sensation of his skin was accurate.

If it was, it was cold and hard; more marble than flesh.

He shook the ponderings away, he had far more important things to be concerned with. "You… you know what's happening, don't you?"

Gaara's gaze stayed fixed on his own hand, but his head dipped ever-so slightly.

The boy sat up a little straighter, quickly wiping his face clean of any remaining tears as he thought on how best to word his request. "So, those people chasing us, you can stop them, right?"

It took a long moment for those glassy eyes to, _painfully_ slowly, turn on him and – despite his expression only barely differing from his familiar, blank slate – they burned with such fury, that he began to suspect that death at the hands of a savage horde, wasn't the one he truly needed to fear.

"Please," he could hardly hear his own voice, over the pounding of his pulse in his ears, "they're going to hurt us, k-kill my family, you- we can't stop them on our own, you _have_ to- please, I-"

Hard, furious, green eyes bored into his and when Gaara spoke, the entire desert must've trembled, "Have to? You, would _use_ me? You think I am your weapon, to call upon at your will, my existence a tool to further your own, my power yours to wield, _you_ , a mere human, command me? I could end you all with a thought-" His words quickly devolved into a snarl, that had Naruto wishing to sink into the rock against his back.

Just breathing was becoming impossible, although Gaara wasn't even close to touching him, he felt frozen in place, as if pressure were being exerted on every inch of him, keeping him shackled and unable to do anything more than plead to an uncaring power for forgiveness.

"N-no, I don't think that, you're not a weapon to me, I just…" he clawed at his own mind, desperately searching for a way to just _explain_ , "I… they're my family, I love them all, with all my heart, they've done so much for me and I still haven't repaid them, I just want to help protect them. I'm not telling you to help, I'm _asking_ you to help, because you're my friend and I can't do anything on my own and if we're left alone then we'll die and I can't do that to them… I just, please, _please_ help, for me, for a friend."

He couldn't keep speaking through his sobs, he couldn't move, he could barely hear anything over the howling storm in his own head. More tears were trailing down his chin, staining his clothes, but Gaara didn't catch them this time, he was utterly still, the kind of stillness that was not possible for a human, the kind of stillness that spoke of the desert itself; grand and open and overwhelming and empty.

The jinni's growl suddenly died, blown away on a gust made heavy with sand – though Naruto swore he could still feel it shaking the ground he sat upon. When it finally cleared, Gaara was standing and walking away and suddenly he could breathe the gulping lungfulls of air he'd so desperately missed.

But, before he could call out and plead for help one last time, the spirit dissolved into a column of sand, quickly ripped apart and scattered to the winds, leaving only an echoing whisper behind.

"Go back to your _family_."

* * *

Naruto couldn't feel his legs.

They'd been on the run for a week now; how far had they travelled in that time? Two hundred miles? Three? And, despite all their best efforts, every time they thought they'd finally shaken their pursuers, a dark, shadowy wolf would always once again rise over the horizon, a great beast whose steps of a hundred hooves created billows of sand visible for miles around.

And the near-constant travelling was definitely getting to everyone, everyone tired and irritable and rejecting conversation in favour of simply breathing. The strain was starting to cause real problems.

The goats had taken to randomly stopping, stubbornly holding their herd back as they lay panting against the hot sand, even when the stronger tribesmen had resorted to carrying them, more were dropping every day and the people themselves were quickly losing their own strength. Isago, Matsuri, Yukata, Yaoki and Korobi were all struggling to keep up with the hard pace, lagging far behind the caravan and, even worse, yesterday old man Sajo had collapsed.

He was so exhausted, but he'd trudged on without saying a word, until he was being fanned awake by a fretting Ameno, to troubled muttering about whether to stop and let him rest, or push on through the evening.

The old warrior had demanded that they carry on and had even rushed to the head of the party to lead them, but everyone could see the travel wearing on him, even now, he was swaying as he stubbornly pushed his legs through loose sand, scrambling across the waves of the land. Ameno was still hovering nearby, relying heavily upon her adopted son's support, even as she kept glancing worriedly at her brother-in-law.

Naruto wasn't sure how much longer any of them could keep this up. Even he and the other warriors were struggling, carrying much more than just their own weight.

He held out a steadying hand to his mother as they carefully skirted the edge of a great dune – it was far quicker to go around than up and it kept them well-hidden behind towering slopes.

Unfortunately, the advantage worked both ways.

The scream came from Yome – wrapped against her mother's chest as she was, she was the only one looking back.

Immediately, terror cut through the entire tribe.

Naruto spun on his heel to face the commotion, one hand instinctively grabbing at his mother's arm while the other reached for the too-heavy weight of steel at his side; he didn't know what he expected to achieve with it, but he couldn't just stand by as his family was in danger.

Maybe they still had time, the enemy was only _just_ thundering around a nearby dune, if they could just hurry, just run a little faster, they could lose them in the sands, even if they were outnumbered, were outmatched, were not even five minutes away from being trampled beneath hooves of cold iron-

His hand was trembling uncontrollably, knuckles turning bone white around the hilt of his sword. He could feel the blade shuddering against its prison from the force of his grip, but the will to draw it eluded him.

Why must all his strength flee him _now_ , of all times?

It left only a snivelling child behind, clinging to his mother; as though she would sing her gentle songs and hold him with warm arms and smile his troubles away, as she always had before.

Naruto's eyes started to burn, assaulted by the dry air and sun, but he couldn't close them, didn't even think to try, he just stared the doom of all he cared for in the face, as it came ever closer, unwilling to bring himself to step forward – help in what little way he could – but unable to tear his gaze away. He could only watch, tears blurring his vision, dark spots blotting out his kin before the enemy even reached them, as though foreshadowing the battle before it even started.

Korobi first, quickly followed by his sister Yukata; Sana and Yome both swallowed up in one, Pakura gone before she could reach them, Isago soon after his wife – it was getting harder to distinguish distance, dark figures leaping yards in an instant as water flowed across his eyes – Abiru and Yodo were close together when they vanish, then Nae, Shira, Matsuri, Mikoshi, Ryusa, Sen, Nonota – his lids were now fighting with him to close, sharp pain and blossoming distortions narrowing them to slits, but if he looked away for a single second he'd miss the next disappearance, the next death, and he couldn't do anything so the least he could do was watch, see, bask in how _useless_ he was in the last moments of his life-

Black.

He blinked.

Everything was black and hot and choking and he could barely breathe.

Finally, _finally_ , his body jerked free of its stasis, hands waving across his face, feeling the heavy material of a scarf being pulled taught against his skin, he pulled it down enough to peer up at Ameno, even as she was dragging him back.

He didn't have time to question before his eyes were once again stinging and watering heavily, but this time he realised the true reason for it.

A harsh wind had swept above them, blasting the dune field, whipping up a thick veil of sand that was quickly consuming their attackers, Naruto watched as the mass was swallowed up by the wild storm, before shutting his eyes again as the edges reached the Sabaku – most of the tribe already using the distraction to push forwards, despite the fundamental law of the desert, that one should never keep walking through a sandstorm.

"Everyone move, _now!_ " the Elder Sister called, her powerful voice cutting over the winds for a brief moment, before the wind was upon them and everything was chaos.

* * *

Fire crackled and goats bleated softly into the night, but there was no comfort to be found in it.

Nor was there any comfort in the hot, sticky rice Naruto was mindlessly stirring in his small bowl; it was terribly bland and sat heavily in his stomach, a constant, lingering discomfort – even if the tribe had had the time and ingredients to make the dish more palatable, he wasn't sure he would've been able to taste anything.

It didn't seem like anyone else felt the same, all forcing down their meagre dinners with the stern, stoic resilience that he'd long since become accustomed to, still, there was very little conversation and eyes were constantly drifting away from the inviting fire to scan the rocky horizon instead.

Even if they were better at hiding it, the boy knew that they were feeling just as scared and tired as he was.

They had been travelling harder and faster in these last ten days than he'd ever known and, no matter how far they went, their stalkers were always just behind the last dune, or charging down the empty plains. Always catching up, always waiting for the moment that the Sabaku could move no longer.

He couldn't take this.

"Why us?"

Naruto surprised himself with his question – his mouth had spoken his thoughts without his permission – but now that the question was out there, he wasn't going to take it back; he wanted answers.

Weary eyes turned to him, but quickly skittered away, instead looking to the few elders who would know.

"We are an enticing target-" though most were staring expectantly at Ryusa, it was Sajo who spoke "-too weak and small to withstand any attack and too infamous to resist the acclaim one would gain for wiping us out."

"But, why now?" he asked, he'd been with them for years without ever even _seeing_ another tribe.

Ryusa sighed. "Because, we brought attention to ourselves. Our presence at past pilgrimages was never welcome, but it was at the very least tolerated, however, leadership has shifted in these last few years. Younger, more aggressive people are coming into power and most tensions between the other tribes have been resolved by Hakuto's rule of Sunagakure, she is not a woman to take lightly, I suspect she has… Ambitions."

"So, Hakuto is the one sending these men after us?"

"Doubtful, I imagine it is the work of Datsuji alone, he is a foolhardy and vicious man; he would no doubt want to see us all die for the sheer joy of it," Sajo muttered, poking harshly at a coal to stoke the fire.

No one spoke for a long while after that, eyes once again drifting to the empty night, seeking out a tell-tale column of dust, or the nervous cry of a startled animal. Most were now finishing their meals, earthen plates scraped thoroughly clean with a rough cloth – they'd had no time to gather the cleansing plants they normally used as soap in their relentless travel – and sticks of miswak were being produced to rub their teeth free of any lingering food.

The blond swirled his own rice in his bowl. He'd thought that perhaps if some of the tribe's nervous tension was addressed, then maybe his appetite would return, but it didn't look any more appealing now than it had just a few minutes ago.

There was a gentle cough that broke the smothering silence, Naruto glanced up to see Sari nervously glancing between the ground in front of her and the tribe's elder. "But… there _is_ more to it than that, right?" she asked, he voice unusually quiet and hesitant. "When they confronted us at Sunagakure, those people, they said such horrible things and they all seemed so angry…"

Slowly, Ryusa shifted, sitting straighter and raising a hand to quiet the mutterings of his tribe. "Well then, you all know the story of our rise, I suppose it is time for you to learn of our fall. Listen well, for I do not wish to tell this story again, in however many years as I have left to live.

"Rasa, the last great Sheikh of our tribe.

"He was truly a man worthy of legend, a leader whose words could shake the air and a warrior the like of which hadn't been seen since the Third broke Mukade's occupation of Sunagakure! He was strong, shrewd and under his leadership, our tribe expanded rapidly, crushing rebellions and bringing our people to an era of unprecedented wealth, on the shoulders of greatness we rose and always with the Baytu-Ilah of the mighty Shukaku that had brought us good fortune and triumph… unfortunately, a great man is not necessarily a _good_ one and it takes but one terror to undo the foundations of a great kingdom.

"Rasa had always been a brutal leader, he did not allow defiance, or failure and soon the cracks in his rule started to show. Unlike the legends of our past, Rasa was not a man suited to power, he was cruel and selfish, where his forebears had taken the wealth they earned and fairly distributed it among their people, he would hoard our gains for himself.

"When faced with even a hint of boldness, he would retaliate with ruthless force and he had little mercy to give. Even innocents would be killed, tortured, just to send a message to those who might think to stand against him.

"In the end, that was his undoing.

"Within just a few decades, he had wrought such horrors upon all the peoples of the desert, that they overcame their own animosities against each other and the broken tribes came together, in one final bid to oust the Sabaku from power. The sands were submerged under a sea of blood and the clashes of steel against steel still echo on the nights when the wind howls in pain, but the anger and combined might of the uprising was eventually too much for Rasa's forces – already weakened by years of mistreatment and fear of the man who had once been their champion – what was left of our tribe was forced into smaller and smaller territories.

"Our people had lost everything, our camels, our horses, our falcons, our influence, our power, our wealth, our reputation and much of our family. We were a mere fraction of our former population and, even still, we were hounded by enemies who sought to wipe the last of us from this world, they drove us further into the most inhospitable parts of the desert and further into desperation. We had but one hope left, our old guardian spirit, the Shukaku.

"There was to be one last, decisive battle; the Chikamatsu, the Hoki and the Akasuna tribes, all came together with an overwhelming force to finally kill Rasa and all his kin and, as the army of thousands descended upon a scant hundred men, women and children. Faced with certain defeat, Rasa took the ancient tea-kettle that bound the mighty jinni… and broke it.

"A great wind blasted everyone away, the sand beneath their feet shuddered and whipped up into a storm the like nature could not even dream of! And from the sand, a creature formed, a massive creature, awe-inspiring and terrifying.

"Rasa called out, demanding the jinni turn his power onto the army that sought to kill the Sabaku and, after centuries of captivity, Shukaku breathed in the scent of freedom and laughed, a sound that shook the land for miles around.

"With a single flick of Shukaku's vast paw, the enemy was swept away, men and horses and camels, all drowned beneath a wave of sand so great, that it reformed the land entirely, new dunes devouring old ones, formations of rock ground to dust, oases forever lost beneath the sea of sand. When it settled, the Sabaku cheered, they had survived an unwinnable battle and could finally return to their lives in safety, Rasa called out again, 'Beast, with your strength, we shall take back the desert!' However, the Shukaku had been sealed away for a reason and he had not looked kindly on the tribe that had been stealing his power for themselves.

"He turned to the man who believed himself his master, grinned a wicked, sadistic grin and said… 'No.'

"The air was stirred into a frenzy as the jinni disappeared into the sands, the Sabaku beaten and scraped raw as they fled. Those who survived the storm, did not live an easy life again, for the last years of his reign, Rasa only became more ambitious, more avaricious, more cruel; what control he lost on Kaze no Kuni, he instead turned on his own people, tortures formerly used to intimidate foes, now used to punish family and all the while, the tribe was hounded by bad luck and unfavourable winds, sent by the resentful Shukaku to torment his former jailors, but never to grant them the mercy of a quick death.

"From this, there was no return for us. Once Rasa was dead, the other tribes quickly forgot about the Sabaku, instead turning their attention to each other and warring to claim the territory left in our absence. What little was left of our people retreated to Ma no Sabaku – the demon desert, from whence we first came – and here we have stayed, forgotten and isolated, only visiting that long-lost past in stories and dreams."


	7. Collapse

ohhhh boy I really didn't think this would take that long, apologies for the long wait (though lbr you guys are probably expecting that at this point) rugby season is back on and I've been promoted (I guess?) so work's started getting hectic again.. aaaaand I _might_ have fallen back into the vat of toxic waste that is death note (no plans to write anything more involving for it than a few oneshots maybe ..yet but _goddamn_ is there a huge backlog of fanfic to keep me distracted) my obsessions usually tend to be pretty brief though, so I can't imagine it'll last more than a month or two, at max

anyways, hope this chap is worth the wait, enjoy me lovelies!

Fesh-fesh: A very fine type of sand, it has properties similar to quicksand, though it's dry and powdery, rather than wet and muddy; like regular quicksand, it's not particularly dangerous to a human provided they know how to escape and are stay calm, but it can quickly trap a vehicle or horse.

Singing sand: A phenomenon where – under certain conditions – some types of sand will produce a humming, squeaking, roaring, or barking sound when subjected to movement, whether by wind disturbing it or the movement of organisms across it.

* * *

Hefting the weight in his arms, Naruto walked steadfastly, straining to keep his breathing even.

Abiru glanced back at him, a question in his narrowed eyes.

He shook his head, driving his feet determinedly through the loose sand beneath his feet, managing to make up some of the distance between himself and the longer-legged boy and the man well ahead of them both.

It was far too hot for this, especially with the sun only just starting to slip from its highest point, but he couldn't complain about it; the tribe needed to get moving as soon as possible, so they would just have to make their preparations during the hottest part of the day, in order to depart swiftly, without any fuss or forgotten belongings.

He wished that they'd camped a little closer to the well though, saving him, Abiru and Komushi the long trip back, carrying enough water between them to last the whole tribe until they reached the next source.

"Hurry up," the older boy muttered, his words dampened by his subdued panting.

Naruto glared, but didn't bother to retort like he normally would – only _partly_ because he had precious little breath to spare – turning his head down and pushing onwards, pretending that the rough crunching of sand with each step, was really the sound of his foot being planted into Abiru's stupid, smug face.

It was a small distraction from the goat-skin canteens bending his back and his constant, paranoid checking of seams for leaks.

"Come on boys, not far now!" Komushi called back, waving enthusiastically at them.

Such a small thing, but it sealed their fate.

The distant shouts drew his eyes to the left, sharp fear rooting him to the spot. Waves of sand rushed down the steep dune as soon as the mass crested it, white and gold robes blinding to look at and flashes of metal catching the intense sunlight, directing spears of it straight into Naruto's squinting eyes.

 _No, not again!_ He couldn't speak, or move, not even _think_ ; only feel the terror sliding its oily hands up his spine, circling lazily around his neck, whispering its dark premonitions directly into his ear-

He screamed as a much stronger hand clamped onto his upper arm, forcibly uprooting him.

"Move!" Abiru screamed back, tugging him along, tripping through the loose ground. But refusing to let go.

Stumbling, trying to find a route to control his muscles that bypassed his uncooperative mind, the blond let himself be dragged along. The lock on his limbs was gradually released, he was once again able to run under his own power, but, even once he'd managed to match the older boy's pace, he didn't let go, their hands clasping tightly onto rough cloth as they scrambled away.

Komushi had almost made it to them, when hands once again grasped at his neck, but this time, they weren't the immaterial kind.

He was lifted off his feet, Abiru briefly holding him down, before his hand was ripped away from Naruto's sleeve.

The world was rushing by too fast to process, grasping hands shifting to hold him more securely. No, no, no no nonono, he had to _do_ something, _anything_ , he'd been trained to fight, he couldn't just freeze, he had to-

Clawing desperately at the grip on him, a wild scratch against thick skin loosened the grip enough that he fell to the ground, his arm jolting painfully up into its socket as he tried to break his landing, but he was too winded to even think of screaming and the sand that had cushioned his fall had also sprayed into his face, blinding every one of his senses, only faint thudding and the muffled shouts breaking through to him.

By the time the world had stopped whirling and he'd managed to gather his bearings, blink the dust from his eyes, Abiru was on the ground, a tall man – figure mostly hidden by his billowing, golden cloak – pointing a sword directly at his throat, a great, dark horse trotting agitatedly nearby.

In the distance, he could see a rapidly retreating figure and a pile of water containers, lying abandoned on the sand.

There was a commotion somewhere behind him, but he couldn't bring himself to look.

Not when the man attacking his _family_ turned to face him, eyes that perfectly matched his shining cloak and a wide, unceasing grin twisting his face.

"Hello again, kid," Datsuji said, tone jovial, even as he pressed the tip of his shamshir further into Abiru's flesh, not quite breaking the skin, but his victim clearly had no intention to move, not with the way his face had drained of all colour, lips tracing silent, desperate prayers, "fancy seeing you again, and in a place like this!"

For the first time in what felt like years, he felt something other than fear. "You-" he grit his teeth as he pushed himself to his feet, good hand clutching his injured shoulder gently "- _you've_ been stalking _us_ for weeks!"

The man hummed as he considered the boy. "…Well, you got me there, pretty smart, aren't cha?"

His fist tightened with each word out of the man's mouth, pain blooming through his entire arm as his limbs shook, muscles tight with the strain of holding himself back – any sudden moves might mean the death of Abiru.

"Hey, no need to look so upset, I'm tryin' to help you, kid."

That stilled him for a moment, what? _Help_ him? By stalking and threatening his tribe? He wished that the growl he gave was even half as threatening as Gaara's were. "What?!"

He shrugged, his blade brushing against Abiru's chin for a brief moment, Naruto wanted to punch him when he saw the bead of bright red trickle down ash-pale skin. "I'm not stupid, no kid just wanders into the middle of the desert, _these_ monsters-" he jabbed his sword into his captive's chest, the boy whimpered, eyes squeezing tightly shut "-stole you from your family, right? Don't worry, no need to play along with their lie anymore, we'll take care of them, then I'll even escort you back to your real family, I'm sure they'll be grateful." Not for one second, had his grin dropped.

"Wha- No! They didn't steal me from anyone and I don't even have parents, they're dead!" he screamed, barely even able to comprehend how someone could act on such a rash judgement.

"Oh?" Datsuji's face blanked as he thought on that, but the demon's smile was quick to return. "Ah well, shame about that, would've been nice to get something worthwhile outta ya, guess I'll just have to settle for killing all of you then, not like I'd planned anything less," he said, calmly, _gleefully_ , eyes narrowing as he turned back to the boy shaking under him. "You're as good a place as any to start."

 _No!_

Uncaring of the fact his arm was still screaming, or the vast difference in age and strength, or the bellowing horde still thundering ever closer behind him, or that he had no weapon, Naruto charged forwards.

But, before he could cross that distance, a cry of rage and pain halted him and the man collapsed.

As he fell, the boy saw the arrow lodged deep into his sword-arm and, looking further behind Datsuji, was a familiar woman, drawing her shortbow once more, Komushi rushing up beside her.

He wanted to laugh in relief, but the man was still standing, cursing at Pakura, even as his hand clamped to his shoulder to stem the flow of blood blossoming against the stark white of his robes like a flower. Naruto took this moment of distraction to rush over to Abiru, grab his arm and haul him to his feet, whispering a desperate, "Move!" in his ear, as he kicked Datsuji's abandoned sword away.

There was a growl behind him – more befitting an animal than a human – and he felt the brush of fingers against the waterskins still wrapped around his back, but not tight enough to hold as the boys fled.

Not far in the distance, he could see the rest of his tribe, a dark mass moving swiftly across the sand, the sight filled him with both intense joy and crushing terror; the leader of their pursuers might be wounded, but the rest of his forces were still coming and they had too few warriors to stand up to them.

As they rushed into Komushi's waiting arms, Naruto glanced back, not wanting to see the death that awaited them, but unable to stop himself.

What…

It was only now that he was given a few precious seconds to breathe, that he realised that the enemies should have reached them long before now, even with Datsuji charging ahead alone, his men were on horseback and not that far behind.

But, their horses had stalled, heads thrashing and letting out horrific _screams_ , men dismounting to pull at their reins, struggling to free both their mounts and themselves from the sand trap.

Miraculously, they'd ridden straight into a wide stretch of fesh-fesh, great dust clouds bursting with each attempt to free themselves, horses frantic as their long, slender legs sank deeply into the ground, warriors shouting at each other, at their leader, who only now turned to face the turmoil.

He quickly glanced back to his prey, face no longer twisted into a wicked grin, but a hateful snarl instead.

The man didn't attack though, as Naruto had feared, instead, he ran towards his forces, calling his own horse back to him with a bellow that bounced off the dunes.

The Sabaku didn't waste this chance, swiftly recovering the precious water dropped in the chaos, they headed for their tribe, wounds and fear and heavy load not enough to slow their feet. The screams of terrified animals and curses of desperate men followed them, long after they were out of sight.

* * *

The clang of metal hitting against tough leather still sent sharp threads of pain weaving up through his arm to his shoulder. He grit his teeth against it, taking a sidestep and raising his weapon for another strike.

It didn't connect, swiping through the empty space Yodo had just stepped out of.

Growling, Naruto lunged at her with his sword's pommel, a stupid move, he realised that even before she'd easily dodged and bashed her shield up into his face, hard enough to send him to the ground.

"Enough," she said simply, voice as blank as always.

He glared up at her, before glancing down to her legs, not even thinking, he awkwardly started to swing his shamshir towards her calf; it hadn't even gotten halfway, before her foot lifted and slammed it down onto the rocky earth. His following kick was caught, leg bent up as she dropped onto him, a knee pressing his sword arm into the rough gravel beneath him, one arm wrapping his trapped leg tight enough that he couldn't move it an inch and her other arm holding him down at the shoulders.

"Enough."

Naruto struggled, managing to twist his arm free, but she rolled away from his attempted punch, leaping back to grapple him again, forcing him onto his front, her bony knee digging into the back of his, her surprising weight crushing the air out of his lungs, his left arm caught beneath his own body and his right held firm under her shoulder, all the time repeating that same word, over and over, tone level and calm.

He tried once again to free himself, but, though skinny, her body was all hard muscle and jagged bones and she was deliberately pulling his injured arm further back, letting the pain reduce him to a blubbering mess.

When it became too much, he gave the signal of surrender, clenching and unclenching his fist three times in rapid succession.

She hesitated for a moment – just long enough to ensure he wasn't bluffing – but willingly released him, careful to not aggravate his aching joints any further. Finally able to move, he rolled onto his side, hand clutching at his shoulder as he tried to stifle his sobs.

"She did tell you to stop." He might've glared at Abiru's comment, if he could actually see him through his blurry vision.

Instead, he pushed himself up, crossing his stiff legs under him and wiping the end of his sleeve across his face, breaths shallow as the blinding throbbing in his arm subsided. He knew it was dangerous to be sparring when he still hadn't quite healed – his mother would kill him when she found out – but he'd been riled up ever since the last attack and needed to release that pent-up tension somehow.

None of the adults would agree to it, but they were in an important discussion right now, so he'd taken the opportunity to go to the ones who'd never deny him a fight.

Except, Abiru _had_ , refusing to take up arms, even as the blond had tried to rile him up in all the ways that had always worked in the past. The older boy had been… off for a while now – ever since his terrifyingly close glimpse at the afterlife – barely talking, not even to his parents, or siblings, or closest friend Amagi.

It was strange; where Abiru had reacted to the trauma by withdrawing into himself, barely able to take care of himself and spending long hours staring into the distance, sometimes not reacting, even when called; Naruto had gone the opposite direction, lashing out at everyone, a constant, jittery energy leaving him unable to relax, or sit still, or listen to Ameno's fretting and attempts at comforting, every tiny noise leaving him twitching and reaching for the weapon that hadn't left his side for a second, ever since the encounter with Datsuji.

"Your anger is worthless," Yodo broke the silence, carefully inspecting her sword and shield for damage.

Naruto frowned, refusing to look at her. "It's better than being scared," he muttered, rubbing at his nose – still sore from the shield bashed into it earlier. "If I don't get angry, then I just freeze, and then I _can't_ do anything to help anyone."

A wad of sand was lobbed into his hair.

"You fought badly today." Yodo's feet appeared in the tiny spot he'd been glaring a hole into, quickly followed by the rest of her, dropping to sit before him. "Your edge was tilted the entire spar."

He pushed away the hand she'd reached out to his face – the glisten of ointment just visible in the moonlight. "I just need to control it better, what would you know anyway, you've never even been in a real battle yourself!"

She looked entirely unimpressed, grabbing the front of his clothing to drag him back into her reach. "I know my own limits."

Groaning at her rougher-than-necessary touch, he stopped trying to shake her healing hands away, though he still glared daggers at her the entire time.

"…He's right you know," Abiru broke the uneasy quiet, both Naruto and Yodo turned to look at him, "I… nothing we've ever trained for prepared me, I-I couldn't _move_ , my mind was blank, everything I'd learned vanished in an instant-" his voice cracked in a way that made Naruto wince in sympathy "-I was supposed to be a great warrior, I was going to join Sabaku no Baki and Shamon, become a legendary hero, spoken of for generations, bringing our tribe back to glory-"

A rock to his temple cut off his fevered rambling.

Yodo narrowed her eyes at her older brother, before turning back to her task of tending Naruto's wounds. "Selfish," she said, jabbing a hard finger into the blond's brow, "survival is more than glory."

The oldest boy scoffed, and Naruto couldn't help but feel a little relieved – it was the first sign of his old self in days now. "Is it? I just want to know that, one day, my children and my children's children and theirs after that, will have a legacy _worth_ protecting, I don't want us to have to live on scraps until we all disappear. I'd rather die trying to improve the lot of my people, than live knowing we're losing more of ourselves with every passing year. Except I didn't, I _couldn't_ , the opportunity was lying right in front of me and I didn't take it, because I'm never going to be a great man, I'm just a useless, spineless-"

"Too big." Finally content with prodding at his face, Yodo leaned away and rose to her feet. "Start with now, protect what we have, not what we might, _we_ can tell the stories about you, and you will hear them."

Abiru's eyes were wide and his mouth was gaping open, staring up at the young girl.

Naruto might've laughed, had she not immediately spun to point at him, he jerked away from her finger, as though it might spit fire at him. "Anger isn't the opposite of fear, but the result of it; _feel_ it, let the fear make you careful, not weak," she practically spat the last word.

Her piece said, she retrieved her training gear – still lying on the hard, sand-strewn stone – and marched the short distance back to their camp, where the susurration of the adults' low, fretful discussion drifted towards them on the wind. Both boys stared after her, identical looks of utter disbelief painting their faces.

Groaning as he rose to his feet, Abiru walked closer to the blond, dropping down right next to the blond. "Now I'm even being lectured by my baby sister," he said, rubbing a rough hand through his dark, messy hair.

"She… maybe kinda had a point though."

"I know, that's what makes it so annoying." The older boy flopped onto his back, eyes wide, gazing blankly up at the night sky. "…So, what do you think you're gonna do?"

He thought on it for a long time, wind blowing gentle scatterings of sand into his face, the faint scent of the campfire a small comfort. Naruto didn't ask for clarification and Abiru didn't press him for an answer.

Would he still be a warrior? _Could_ he still be a warrior? Twice now, he'd been put in a situation where the lives of his family were being threatened, and twice his body had been locked by his crippling fear; all his training, all his knowledge, all the love he had for those so precious to him, forgotten, buried under the shifting dune of his resolve, collapsing on top of him, suffocating the fight out of him, before he even thought to draw a weapon, to raise a fist.

Yodo was probably right, getting angry hadn't helped him at all, he'd still been terrified, but with no target, nowhere to channel it, he'd only taken his frustrations out on everyone around him – and, now that the rage of an animal desperate for its life had fled him, he was left only with the guilt of knowing that he'd made their lives harder, in this time that was already taking its toll on everyone.

"I… don't know," he eventually said, letting his own body fall to the ground, wary not to jostle his shoulder, "I _want_ to help, but maybe I'm just not meant to do this."

There was a scoff that urged him to twist his neck to look into Abiru's face, he wasn't looking back, but his frown was clearly visible, even in profile. "What're you talking about," he muttered, "you saved my life, pulling me out of there when I'd just… accepted it."

"You did the exact same thing for me though!"

His eyes blinked twice, before he turned to face Naruto. "We still both got caught, idiot" he said, reaching out to flick the blond's forehead.

Twisting the rest of his body to better stare at the older boy, Naruto found a little bit of something he'd thought he'd perhaps lost coming back to him, even giggling slightly as he said, "Yeah, but you still managed to help me when I was frozen, it's like… neither one of us can help ourselves, but we can at least help each other, right?"

In the dark night, the softening of Abiru's brown eyes was just barely visible, but they were open and honest and entirely unlike anything Naruto had seen in them before.

"Maybe," he said, once more turning to the beautiful, glittering sky, "you have my back and I'll have yours?"

Naruto grinned – for the first time since this whole ordeal had begun. "Deal." He'd joined his new-found friend in stargazing, when a thought came to him. "You've gotta stop being mean to Matsuri and everyone else though; if you're gonna have great tales told about you, then you probably shouldn't upset the people who'd be telling them."

There was a drawn-out groan and a handful of sand dropped into his face, but Naruto still heard Abiru's reply, even over his own hacking. "Alright, fine, but I'm warning you now, I'm gonna suck at it."

* * *

It had been another hard night's travel, another trek through the bitter cold, through that blissful hour as the sun slowly clawed its way above the horizon – it's fingers pulling away at the freezing black cloak that had lain over the desert, but not so much that the sun's own smothering blanket of heat could be draped over it in its stead – and through the dry, overbearing warmth of the morning, until finally, the heat sapped the last of their energy and the tribe was forced to halt, putting up their tents with the same well-practised routine that they always did, before quickly retreating under the shade, a small meal of the little rice they'd managed to gather on their journey, the tough goats' cheese they had stored and what was left of the dried meat kept in their packs.

The dinner had been quiet and tense, as all their meals had been lately, only a light conversation of plans for the next day and chores that would need to be completed before they moved on again, before everyone rose and settled into their respective sleeping quarters.

Naruto had to wonder how many of them could actually manage to sleep, he certainly couldn't, even wrapped in his mother's tight embrace, her cool breath tickling the back of his neck.

She'd at least managed to find her rest, which he was grateful for, the constant walking, constant wariness, relentless apparitions dancing between dunes, had been steadily wearing away at her, every day seeing her looking a little older, her energy drained, her movements stilted and her smiles weak.

Ameno needed as much rest as she could get and, if it would calm her enough to get it, then Naruto would let her bring him into her constricting, loving, troubled grip, even though their combined bodies almost stuck together from the heat they produced, and blunted needles pricked along every inch of his limbs, and the unconscious muttering of her sleeping body infiltrated his mind, her mumbled words entirely incoherent, but the tone of distress keeping him from reaching sleep himself.

Moving as slowly and gently as he might in battle, with her iron-strong grip refusing to release him, the boy twisted to face her.

Her wrinkled eyes scrunched shut, as he brushed a strand of dark grey hair from her brow – despite his arm being trapped awkwardly between her body and his.

Naruto sniffed back the tears that were threatening to spill and wrapped his arms around her as best he could. A long sigh brushed against his face – buried into Ameno's soft neck – and he focused on the slow, steady thud of her heart beating against his chest.

As long as he could feel that, he'd know they were both safe.

* * *

"Is everyone here? Is anyone hurt?" Sajo's voice was horse with exhaustion, but still clear over the bleating of goats, distant, roaring wind and panting and fretful muttering of the tribe.

There were a few feeble responses, but Naruto's body was too heavy and stiff to take them in – if no one had raised their voice in panic, then he could assume everyone was present and well. Or, as well as anyone who'd just barely escaped a bitter sandstorm _could_ be.

Feet collapsing under him, Naruto grunted as he sat staring back at the monumental wall of sand still blacking out the morning sky just a few miles away.

It'd come on suddenly, like all desert storms; they'd been incredibly lucky that the wind had favoured them and hadn't forced the tribe off-course. They might've stayed put, as was the absolute law of desert navigation, were it not for the glints of light bouncing off white and gold, just before the sandstorm hit.

He honestly wasn't sure if they'd been real, or if it had been a joint hallucination of everyone in the tribe, fuelled by paranoia and stress, but he was glad they'd not taken that chance, all the same.

A hand landed heavily on his shoulder, he jerked his head to stare up at Shira. "You ready?"

Forcing a stilted nod, Naruto pushed himself back to his feet. The time for rest was over, they had to keep going to reach the next stop on their route, hopefully in two days' time they would reach the nearest oasis.

He watched as everyone picked up the packs they'd dropped; Sen calling the goats with a practised tongue, Ittetsu quickly nudging the stragglers along; Komushi hauling his baby girl onto his back, her short, stubby arms wriggling around his neck; the Elder Sister leading the way, her brother sticking to her side like a shadow at midday; the warriors subtly encircling the party, gaze always turning, even when their path stayed straight.

Naruto took his place with the other children, while a part of him still longed to take up a protective position with his teachers, being near to his closest friends gave him comfort.

"It's really weird," Sari said, she'd not stopped her need for constant speech, even with everything going on around her, but her nerves came through in her low volume and the sudden shift from trivial small-talk, to constant fretting.

When no one else answered her, Naruto frowned and took the task himself. "What is?"

"You know… all the storms-" she pushed her scarf a little further from her eyes to better look at him "-we've seen four in the last two weeks and it's not even the right season for it."

Mikoshi scoffed. "It's just a foul wind; happens all the time."

She crinkled her nose, cheeks puffing out dramatically. "Yeah, but even then we don't get _this_ many, not to mention all the other weird stuff that's been happening, something just seems off to me," she said, voice straining to stay level.

"Weird stuff?" Naruto asked, despite part of him already knowing exactly what she was suggesting.

Nodding rapidly, she continued, "Like the goats being so jumpy lately, and there's a lot less animals around for us to hunt, and that pit of fesh-fesh that helped save Naruto and Abiru."

He flinched slightly at that reminder, but only Matsuri seemed to notice, her hand wordlessly slipping into his, only a short glance passed between them, before her eyes were once again facing firmly forward.

Amagi raised a thin brow. "You actually think the ones stalking us are in league with the weather, or something?"

"No! I never said that, I just… think it's eerie, for so many unusual things to be happening at once…" Sari's voice trailed off weakly, but the silence that followed her words was profound. Everyone knew that she was right; even if you discredited a certain amount of fear-induced delusions and the typical unpredictable desert winds, there were some things that couldn't be explained so easily.

The powdery quicksand that had halted Datsuji's forces was suspicious, to say the least – Naruto felt like he would've noticed it before that point, as they made their way from the well to the camp.

It was almost as if…

"D-do you think it could be a spirit?" Matsuri asked, her voice quieter than a tiny mouse hiding in the scrub.

His heart constricted painfully. He wished he could give her an answer – wished he could give _himself_ an answer – but, with the way his last meeting with Gaara had ended, he honestly couldn't say if the jinni might actually have something to do with it.

Mikoshi groaned and glared at his sister, who cowered a little closer into Naruto's side. "Don't say such silly things, why would any spirit suddenly decide to help us? It's all just random chance and fear making us look for answers that aren't there."

It was hard to believe that he was younger than Matsuri sometimes, the way he always insisted he knew better than anyone else.

"I don't know," Sari said, sounding entirely unconvinced, "spirits seem a pretty good explanation to me; besides, it's not entirely _good_ luck we've been having, who says this isn't just a bored jinni looking to cause trouble?"

"That's ridiculous, the worry is just getting to everyone's heads! Once they've given up chasing us and everything's gone back to normal, you'll all realise that you were just cooking up stories to make yourselves feel better," Mikoshi said, staring steadfastly ahead, as they trudged over rough fields of gravelly stone.

None of the others looked swayed, but the group fell into silence anyway. Now wasn't the time to be arguing.

Naruto didn't believe for a second that Datsuji and his solders would ever give up, or that things could ever really go back to normal – not after so much had happened to shatter the view he'd once had of his adopted family – but he didn't want to tell the young boy that. He didn't want to tell Sari that the only jinni who might help them had refused the request outright. If only because indulging in that fantasy was one of the only things keeping him going at this point.

* * *

The black was creeping in at the edges of his vision, he could no longer see the figure running at his side – though the hand gripping his tight enough to crush bone meant he never worried about losing her – but that was a good thing, it kept him focused on the way ahead, straight and clear and bright, despite the inky dark lapping at its heels.

Any sounds, made by either his tribe running alongside him, or the distant calls of men wounded and angry and _bloodthirsty_ , were utterly dwarfed by the steady, rapid thudding that rattled his entire body with every heartbeat, every jarring step against loose sand that slipped beneath his feet that threatened to dislocate joints, every haggard breath struggling to pierce through his constricted airways, ripping at his lungs and throat with desperate, terrified claws along the way.

None of them would be able to keep this up for long, not against well-bred horses and trained soldiers, not without abandoning the weak, young and elderly.

And that would never happen; the Sabaku already had so little, it would take death to wrench what they did from their grasping hands.

Still, they had no intentions of _letting_ themselves be killed, either.

This part of the desert was treacherous, sand traps were hidden everywhere and the winds were hard – it wouldn't be enough to deter their pursuers, but perhaps their number might be lessened – and, if they could just wear down the horses, then perhaps they might yet escape, an animal could never outlast a human after all.

Run, until they could run no more, then they would stand and fight. It was the only illusion of hope they had left to cling to.

Naruto risked a short glance over his shoulder; there was little distance between the two groups now – perhaps a few hundred yards – and there was nowhere to hide – surrounded on both sides by steep dunes running parallel to each other, the only viable option, was forwards.

Gritting his teeth, he turned back to the path ahead, his grip on his mother's hand as tight as he dared.

If it came down to it, he knew he would stay behind to let her escape and he knew that _she_ would never run and leave him behind either.

They would die today, all of them would.

Somehow, he couldn't find it in himself to regret any of it, perhaps if he'd stayed in his birthplace, he'd have lived a much longer life, but a lifetime of hurt and loneliness and the constant hate that had surrounded him, seeped into every part of his existence, would never be worth the true happiness he'd experienced in these last few, too-short years.

The bellows behind them were becoming clearer now, still only a few words overpowered the rushing of breath and thundering of multitudes of feet and hooves, but the intent was clear with just the indistinct 'hurry' and 'kill!'

Naruto kept up his breathing, having to remind himself of all the times he'd run laps up dunes, a much harder task than this, this was simple, it was nothing, just keep running straight, don't let go, don't stop breathing, just one foot in front of the other, looking to the dark figures ahead for guidance, he could do this, they could do this, _breathe_ -

Suddenly, a great wind tore down the gully between the dunes, the force of it blasting sand high into the air and swiping most all of the tribe off their feet, a roar smothering all other sound, even long after it faded.

Groaning as he lifted his head from the sand, his first thought was to look beside him, to Ameno; even with her hand still gripping his tightly, he knew he wouldn't be calmed until her saw her face. Crawling to his knees, he carefully helped her up, letting out his held breath in a rush when she mumbled a quick assurance that she was fine.

He might've then glanced around to check on the rest of his family, were it not for the awful, roaring, discordant… humming.

It seemed to be coming from every direction, the noise bouncing off great dunes, before being swallowed by the wide, empty sky, but even with it so distorted, the song could only be coming from one place.

Their pursuers had been less than a dune's length behind them, just another few minutes and they might've caught up.

Were it not for the great wall of sand crashing down onto men and horses alike, they would have.

The sand was still singing its final death throes, as the collapsed dune settled into its new shape, lovingly embracing Datsuji and his soldiers, moulding itself around them, sprinklings of shimmering gold still brushing down the now-shallow slope, trailing a last low, eerie hum behind it, before all went still and quiet.

Nothing moved, not the sand, nor the wind, nor the Sabaku. The entire world holding its breath, waiting for something to happen, a word, a movement, any sign that those trapped beneath the weight of a crushing dune were somehow still alive.

Naruto wondered if this was what it meant to witness a truly momentous event.

The wail as Sana fell to the ground – holding her daughter tight in her arms, fat tears spilling from her eyes – broke the spell, and suddenly there was nothing but noise and movement and panic.

Parents were clinging to children, husbands and wives sobbing as they kissed; Pakura was already taking long, urgent strides towards the site of collapse, Satetsu quick on her heels, but, deep down, he knew that they would find no survivors.

Sajo was the first to speak any coherent words, "Praise be! A miracle! Truly, we have been favoured by a powerful being," he said, though it was unclear he was addressing the tribe or himself.

Even knowing how unlikely it was, Naruto still scanned the edges of the dune field, vainly searching for a flash of deep red, a dark silhouette on the horizon, a strange twist of sand, _anything_ that might reveal the presence he was now certain was behind this.

Nothing. He'd expected nothing less, but was still too entrenched in shock to be disappointed.

His throat was cramping painfully, the thudding of his heart still shuddering his entire body so hard, that surely even Ameno could feel it where her worn hands were clutching at his face. The boy managed to force a weak smile and leaned into her comforting presence.

"We're safe now," she mumbled into his ear, wrapping him into her body like she never wanted to let go – he returned her trembling embrace. "You're _safe_ , thank the gods."

* * *

It was surprising how quickly life had resumed.

Once sure that the danger had passed, the Sabaku hadn't stayed put for long – they were still low on supplies and needed to get to the closest oasis.

But, even though everyone was still exhausted, both physically and emotionally, the air surrounding them had lightened considerably. Conversation was once again struck up as they travelled, strained jokes and weary laughter bounced between the dunes, the goats were still skittish, but even they seemed to sense the shift in mood.

The first night spent at the oasis was practically a festival; they'd had to kill two of their goats – the old, weak ones, who'd been run so ragged by their weeks-long flight that they would have died soon regardless – the tough meat becoming the base of a thick stew, flavoured with some of the herbs that skirted the edge of the cool water; they broke out some of the more exotic ingredients they'd been storing, the peeled cinnamon bark and some honey that Yukata had sweet-talked out of a merchant in Sunagakure; grains enough to make a huge stack of flatbreads were gathered, enough to last them _days_ in any other circumstance; Pakura had even managed to hunt a few birds, skinny little things, but their meat added a different taste and texture to the meal.

Except for a half-hearted grumble from the Elder Sister, and the Elder Brother's quiet warning that the celebrations were premature and there would be consequences to face eventually, no one had questioned the waste, everyone had been tense and exhausted for so long now, they needed something to lift their spirits, a small reminder that there was still joy to be found in this life of theirs.

Of course, the celebration had only started once a generous sacrifice of their carefully prepared meal was gifted to the mysterious spirit that had saved them.

If anyone had noticed Naruto's lack of enthusiasm, they said nothing.

And, as more days passed – staying close to the life-giving oasis, until the tribe had checked and repaired their equipment and resupplied as much as they could – the bitter taste refused to leave his mouth, leaving him unable to properly enjoy the meals everyone had worked so hard on.

He still didn't know what to think about what had happened. There was no doubt in his mind that the collapse of the dune had been more than chance, that _something_ had intervened and he was almost positive of the identity of their unseen benefactor, but… maybe he was wrong?

Gaara had made his thoughts on the matter painfully clear, so why would he change his mind now? The jinni's thoughts had always been ineffable, frustratingly so, but it wasn't like him to be impulsive, or indecisive. Perhaps Naruto was underestimating the lengths he would go to to keep him safe, or perhaps this really was the work of some other being, or it could be that Gaara suddenly realised he might be able to get something out of them.

His thoughts only led him around in circles and he knew he would get no rest until he got some real answers.

So, on the fourth night, he snuck away from the camp and marched a few dunes away – still a little wary of his footing and flinching at every ominous creak of sand – far enough that his voice wouldn't carry on the wind.

Though with Gaara's abilities, he doubted it would've ever reached them anyway.

Finally standing in a suitable place, he stilled, closing his eyes, listening to the gentle breeze and feeling the bitter chill snaking under his clothes. He took a slow, deep breath, almost too scared to release it.

But he had to eventually and, when he did, it came out as a single, clear, determined word. "Gaara."

It was the first time he'd ever directly called for the jinni, he wasn't sure that it would even work, but the tell-tale shifting of sand and the sudden _weight_ to the air around him was all he needed to open his eyes.

Green ones stared back, almost luminescent, even in the dark.

He tried to keep his breathing steady, though he still didn't know what to expect from this meeting. "You… you did it, didn't you?" he asked, simply, no better place to start.

"Yes." Gaara's voice was the same as it always was – cold and raspy and carefully concealing any hint of emotion, save perhaps the slightest undercurrent of anger which never truly left.

Naruto dipped his head a little in a nod, without breaking their eye-contact. He'd already figured that much.

He pushed a little further. "But you said that you wouldn't, before."

There was a long moment where it seemed like Gaara wouldn't answer, his eyes narrowed and an unseen, untouchable wind curling the scarves wrapped around him into jagged shapes. "It is no longer within my control," he eventually said, face blank, but voice shaking with an emotion just _barely_ restrained, "if I could resist, then I never would have involved myself."

Naruto frowned, trying to wind his way through the often-convoluted paths of the jinni's mind. "What's that supposed to mean? Did some other spirit order you to protect us or some-"

"I am not protecting _them_ , I am protecting you, and it was no _spirit_ that bound me." That… almost sounded like an accusation.

Slapping his hands to his face, Naruto smothered the urge to scream. "But, I didn't do anything!"

The flowing of fabric abruptly stopped, before starting again, this time with much sharper movements. When Gaara finally managed to speak again, it sounded eerily like the same rumbling song that had accompanied the collapsing dune, "You did _everything_ -" long fingers wound tightly into dark red, twisting at hair and cloth both, hard enough that the boy worried he might hurt himself "-you pushed yourself into my consciousness, you came to me with impossible hopes and promises, you showed me things I've never needed, made me want them, you made me… _feel_ , after an eternity of nothing, something I don't understand that keeps my own wellbeing bound to yours!"

Gaara's anger was still terrifying, as it always was, but at the same time, Naruto couldn't help but notice the same look in those pale eyes that had drawn him to the spirit in the first place.

"That- that's just caring for someone, it's just what happens when you become friends," he said, in as level a voice as he could manage, "if someone you care about is hurt, then you hurt too, but it's worth it, because it goes both ways; when they're happy, you feel better too, don't you?"

He didn't answer, but then, he didn't need to. Naruto could see it clearly in the way his eyes ever-so-slightly widened, before skittering away to glare into the distance.

"Look, I get that you're confused right now but… I needed to say thank you, if you hadn't helped, then…" He grimaced at the thought, even now that he knew his family was safe, those horrible mental images were still lingering in the shadows, waiting to leap upon him at the slightest hint of such thoughts. Shaking his head roughly, he continued, "You saved us- me, you saved me, so thank you."

It didn't seem like the jinni was going to acknowledge that, but he wasn't particularly surprised.

Part of him wanted to push a little further, perhaps reprimand Gaara for taking such unnecessarily violent action, but then he'd remember laughing eyes of gold, a rough hand gripping his arm so tight it left bruises and the pure terror that had painted Abiru's face as he stared down glinting metal.

Somehow, he couldn't find it in himself to be too mad about their deaths. And it almost certainly would just end in another argument, which was the last thing he wanted right now.

He let out a long sigh – one that carried with it all the pain and fear and worry and anger that he'd been holding for so long now – and forced a weary smile onto his lips. "Well, I should probably get back to camp now," he said, adjusting his headscarf and robes with fidgety hands, "but you'll come and find me when we stop next, right?"

The moonlight really did do something to soften the jinni's features; even if it did nothing for his temperament.

"Do not ask such foolish questions," he said, voice low and eyes surprisingly gentle.

Fabric swirled as Gaara turned and started his slow walk away, trailing behind him, ever-so tempting to just reach out and grab, but the boy clamped his arms to his sides through power of will, just watching in silence, until one last thought came to him.

"You… don't have to keep looking out for us, if you really don't want to," he said quietly to the jinni's turned back, "I- _we_ can find a way to protect ourselves."

Gaara's steps halted jarringly and it took a long time for him to glance over his shoulder, with eyes cold and hard and sad and frustrated.

"There is still so little you understand," he muttered, before scattering apart on a gentle breeze.


End file.
